The secrets of the fastest tongue of the animal kingdom – BBC World

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the chameleon is a reptile with extraordinary abilities: can change color depending on the circumstances, the eyes can move independently of each other, can trap objects with the tail, etc.

But perhaps his most extraordinary caracterísitca is their language.

the chameleon is capable of extend the language to twice the size of your body and at the same time unroll telescopically.

it has been shown that if the language of chameleon were a car, this could accelerate from 0 to 100km in a split second.

Now a team of researchers at the University of Oxford, England, discovered what is the secret of this extraordinary organ.

the researchers devised a mathematical model to explain how this reptile can move the tongue at that speed for catch insects.

Image caption the chameleon tongue can extend up to twice the size of her body.

It took more than 20 equations to capture mathematically the speed of the league.

With the model successfully demonstrated the mechanical organ, its inherent increase and rapid release of energy.

“the equations may seem complex, but in the center of it all is the Second Law of Newton (the movement ), the kind of thing that children are learning in school, “he told the BBC Derek Moulton, associate professor of mathematical biology at the University of Oxford, one of the authors of the study.

” it simply balance forces with acceleration “.

He adds that” in mathematical terms, what we have done is to use the theory of nonlinear elasticity and capture energy in various layers of the tongue “.

” And then spent the potential energy to a model of kinetic energy to the dynamics of the tongue “.

to develop mathematical model that explains how chameleon conducts its lingual prowess, the team used observations and experiments.

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Image caption The chameleon can also change color depending on their circumstances.

They confirmed that part of the secret is a special elastic tissue within the language .

In the center of the body is a bone surrounded by between 10 and 15 layers of very thin fibrous tissue which in turn are surrounded by a muscle.

“the equations model the mechanics and interactions of these different layers,” explains professor Moulton .

“the balance of forces and the energy contained in these layers when the muscle contracts, is what starts the whole process”.

the research, published in the journal of the Royal Society, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London a says that the model could have applications for designing soft and elastic for robotics materials.

But scientists say their primary motivation was simply “scientific curiosity”.