Frog’s gift of grab comes from saliva and squishy tissue

 

A quick-switch saliva and softer-than-marshmallow tissue combine to help catch prey

Frogs’ have a remarkable power to tongue-grab prey as big as mice or as oddly shaped as tarantulas. How do they do this? The ability stems from a combo of peculiar saliva and a super-squishy tongue, new data show.

The first detailed analysis of the stickiness of frog saliva finds that the fluid can shift rather abruptly from gooey to runny, notes Alexis Noel. She is a mechanical engineer at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Those quick changes come in handy duri ... Read more »