Chameleon Tongue 5 Times Faster than Jet Aircraft

God created something great with the perfect design. Design organs in animals has been designed in such a way according to the food. So is the chameleon. However, of these animals are found astonishing facts. The fact is the speed super chameleon tongue catch its prey. Jurriaan de Groot of the University of Leiden, and Johan van Leeuwen of Wageningen University, taking X-ray films of high-speed, ie 500 frames per second, in order to investigate how the chameleon's tongue works when capturing prey. These films show that the chameleon's tongue tip acceleration of 50 g (g = gravitational constant). The acceleration is five times greater than can be achieved by a fighter jet.

Zologi textbooks explain that ballistic chameleon tongue is reinforced by a piece of the accelerator muscle (accelerator). This muscle extends when pressing down on the bones of the tongue, in the form of stiff cartilage in the middle of the tongue, the wrapping. However, in a study that has been approved for publication by the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of London (Series B), two experts who studied the morphology of the eating habits of chameleons found other elements associated with the rapid movement of the animal's tongue.

The researchers This dissected tissue of the tongue and found that the accelerator muscle was not strong enough to generate the force necessary for this alone. By examining the chameleon tongue, they discovered the existence of at least 10 packs of slippery, hitherto unknown, between the tongue accelerator muscle and bone. These sheaths, which is attached to the tongue bone at the end closest to the mouth, the fibers were observed to contain spirally wound protein.

fibers are compacted and deformed when the accelerator muscle contracts and store energy like a piece of rubber band is depressed. When it reaches the tip of the tongue round bone, tight sheaths and simultaneously sliding it extends and contracts with the power and throw the tongue. As quickly as the fibers slide from the bone of the tongue, the sheaths separate from one another like the tubes of a telescope, and the tongue reaches maximum stretch. Van Leeuwen said, "This is a telescopic catapult."

slingshot has another characteristic that is very striking. The tip of the tongue takes the form of hollow when struck prey. When ejected, the tongue may protrude as far as six times the length at rest in the mouth, and two times his own length.

muscle groups with different properties of the tongue impeccably cast, memercepatnya, causing the tongue to take shape when it hit the prey and suck then quickly pulled. Muscle groups is by no means mutually inhibit each function, but works in a synced the hit prey and pull the tongue back into the mouth in less than a second. Moreover, thanks to cooperation between the visual system and brain, the position of prey were measured and the command for ballistic tongue to "shoot!" Given by the nerves that transmit signals in the brain.