Dynamics of prey prehension by chameleons through viscous adhesion

Brau, Fabian; Lanterbecq, Déborah; Zghikh, Leïla-Nastasia; Bels, Vincent; Damman, Pascal

doi:10.1038/nphys3795

Cited by 38 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…When drinking, the tongue of Anolis carolinensis and Oplurus cuvieri protrudes only slightly compared to the extent of protraction it displays during prey capture (for O. cuvieiri, compare prey capture in Delheusy & Bels, ; Delheusy, Toubeau & Bels, , and drinking in Wagemans et al , ). This difference is even more pronounced in chameleons (Wainwright et al , ; Wainwright & Bennet, ; Herrel et al , ; Brau et al , ). Observations of lizards suggest there is one basic mechanism that governs tongue protrusion, but that it may be modulated so as to drive protraction to various extents as appropriate to the task at hand (feeding vs. drinking).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Among iguanian lizards (currently assigned to the Toxicofera), the tongue is directly involved in prey capture (Schwenk & Throckmorton, ; Bels, ; Kraklau, ; Bels et al, ; Herrel et al , ; Meyers & Herrel, ; Schaerlaeken, Meyers & Herrel, ; Brau et al , ; Bels et al , ,b), but also plays an important role in drinking (Bels et al, ; Wagemans et al , ). The agamid Pogona exemplifies the differences in tongue protraction and deformation when employed in prey capture and drinking (Bels et al , ,b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mechanics and kinematics of fluid uptake and intraoral transport in the leopard gecko

et al. 2020

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Drinking permits amniote vertebrates to compensate for water loss. Lizards (nonophidian squamates) use their tongue to imbibe water, but for most lizards the tongue is also employed in other activities. To determine how these various demands can be accommodated alongside the tongue's role in drinking, it is necessary to firstly determine the tongue's function in water uptake and intraoral transport in a lizard that does not use this organ for chemoreception or food prehension. We selected the leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius) for this purpose. We build upon previous morphological observations of the anatomy of its tongue and oral cavity and explore its drinking behaviour through high-speed cinematography and cineradiography. This allows us to follow the movement of radio-opaquely labelled water in association with tongue, jaw and throat movements. The tongue is modified to collect water and to release it into the anterior region of the buccal cavity. Repeated tongue cycles are associated with the shifting of the imbibed water into paired ventrolateral chambers and ultimately to its passage to a single, midline posterior chamber prior to swallowing. Tongue movements, capillarity and pressure changes due to hyolingual movements cause water to be moved posteriorly along specific pathways prior to swallowing, bypassing the airways and dorsal surface of the mid-and hind tongue. In this licking-based lingually driven approach to drinking, only small volumes of water can be gathered at a time, with a drinking bout consisting of 20-30 tongue cycles before emersion and swallowing occur. This mechanism differs from drinking in turtles and snakes, which do not employ licking and may take in larger quantities of water. We advance the hypothesis that all lizards have conserved this pattern of tongue-based water uptake and precisely directed intraoral fluid transport, with specializations for tongue-based food capture and/or lingually based chemoreception being superimposed thereupon.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanics and kinematics of fluid uptake and intraoral transport in the leopard gecko

et al. 2020

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“…This shows that the instantaneous adhesive force at a given edge height has a significant rate dependence ( fig. 15a): at high rates, viscous forces become important and resist the separation of the membrane from the substrate, which is the same mechanism as for so-called 'Stefan adhesion' [2,13,32]. The peak adhesion force is increased, and the force remains high over a larger range of gap widths H ∞ .…”

Section: Dynamic Detachmentmentioning

confidence: 97%

Elasto-capillary adhesion: Effect of deformability on adhesion strength and detachment

et al. 2019

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We study the interaction between capillary forces and deformation in the context of a deformable capillary adhesive: a clamped, tense membrane is adhered to a rigid substrate by the surface tension of a liquid droplet. We find that the equilibrium adhesive force for this elastocapillary adhesive is significantly enhanced in comparison to the capillary adhesion between rigid plates. In particular, the equilibrium adhesion force is orders of magnitude greater when the membrane is sufficiently deformed to contact the substrate. From a dynamic perspective, however, the formation of a fluidfilled dimple slows this approach to contact and means that stable attachment is only achieved if adhesion is maintained for a minimum time. The inclusion of a variable membrane tension (as a means of modifying the deformability) gives additional control over the system, allowing new detachment strategies to be explored.

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“…Animals have evolved a diverse array of anti-predator traits, including those that are physical (camouflage, mimicry, and weaponry), behavioural (defensive displays, colouration), and chemical (venom, noxious chemicals). The production of mucus is a prime example of a chemical response to predation risk which has been recorded amongst velvet worms (Baer & Mayer, 2012), echinoderms (Flammang, Demeuldre, Hennebert, & Santos, 2016), fish (Schubert, Munday, Caley, Jones, & Llewellyn, 2003;Shephard, 1994), arthropods (Betz & Kölsch, 2004), lizards (Brau, Lanterbecq, Zghikh, Bels, & Damman, 2016), aquatic gastropods (Rice, 1985), terrestrial slugs (Barber et al, 2015;Deyrup-Olsen, Luchtel, & Martin, 1983), and amphibians (Arnold, 1982;Evans & Brodie, 1994;Graham, Glattauer, Li, Tyler, & Ramshaw, 2013). Such bioadhesives are typically secreted quickly and exhibit a rapid curing process, with some able to be exposed for weeks without losing their bonding capability (von Byern et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adhesive defence mucus secretions in the red triangle slug (Triboniophorus graeffei) can incapacitate adult frogs

Gould¹,

Valdez

Upton³

2019

Preprint

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Gastropods are known to secrete mucus for a variety of purposes, including locomotion, reproduction, adhesion to surfaces and lubrication. A less commonly known function of mucus secretion in this group involves its use as a defence against predation. Amongst the terrestrial slugs, mucus that serves this particular purpose has been studied for only a handful of species under laboratory conditions, where it is thought to be produced to make individuals unpalatable or difficult to consume. However, the mechanisms of how these defensive secretions operate and their effectiveness in deterring predation in the natural world have not been described in much detail. In this study, we provide evidence of adhesive mucus secretions in the red triangle slug (Triboniophorus graeffei) as an adaptation against predation. Field observations of a large red‐eyed green tree frog (Litoria chloris) trapped in the mucus secretions of a nearby T. graeffei revealed that this mucus serves to incapacitate predators rather than just an overall deterrence. Mechanical stimulation of T. graeffei under laboratory conditions revealed that adhesive secretions were produced from discrete sections of the dorsal surface when disturbed, leading to the production of a highly sticky and elastic mucus that was unlike the thin and slippery mucus used during locomotion. The adhesiveness of the defensive secretions was strengthened and reactivated when in contact with water. This appears to not only be the first description of defensive mucus production in this slug species but one of the first natural observations of slug secretions incapacitating a relatively large vertebrate. The biomechanical properties of this mucus and its ability to maintain and strengthen its hold under wet conditions make it potentially useful in the development of new adhesive materials.

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Dynamics of prey prehension by chameleons through viscous adhesion

Cited by 38 publications

References 23 publications

Mechanics and kinematics of fluid uptake and intraoral transport in the leopard gecko

Mechanics and kinematics of fluid uptake and intraoral transport in the leopard gecko

Elasto-capillary adhesion: Effect of deformability on adhesion strength and detachment

Adhesive defence mucus secretions in the red triangle slug (Triboniophorus graeffei) can incapacitate adult frogs

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