Ballistic tongue projection in salamanders

Minor evolutionary changes in morphology and neural control helped transform the salamander tongue into a high-powered elastic recoil mechanism for capturing prey, according to a study. Long-distance ballistic tongue projection in lungless salamanders represents extremely high acceleration among vertebrate movements. Stephen Deban and colleagues examined the kinematics, dynamics, and comparative morphology of tongue projection to determine how the components required for extreme performance in animal movement are assembled in evolution. Using high-speed video, the authors recorded 1,952 feeding events from 106 individuals representing more than a dozen species. To determine the effect of temperature on the peak velocity and power of the tongue movements, the feeding events took place at a range of body temperatures. The authors report that, compared with muscle-powered projection, elastic-spring systems are less temperature-dependent. The authors also found that several morphological features are central to the function of the spring-powered system, notably the rearrangement of collagen structures to store elastic energy. According to the authors, the changes, which likely evolved multiple times in parallel in salamanders, may have occurred during the evolution of other ectothermic animals with extreme athletic performance.

ARTICLE #19-21807: “Evolution of a high-performance and functionally robust musculoskeletal system in salamanders,” by Stephen M. Deban et al.

MEDIA CONTACT: Stephen M. Deban, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL; tel: 813-974-2242; e-mail:

[email protected]

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This part of information is sourced from https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-04/potn-btp042220.php

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