The smaller the chameleon, the stronger the tongue releases

This helps them gain a significant competitive advantage over larger species in capturing prey.

With bizarre eyes with 360-degree viewing angles, colorful skin, and striking gait and horribly long tongue, these chameleon are also cold-blooded animals like lizards. other. But the difference between them and their relatives comes not only from appearance, but also in the tongue that can be launched with acceleration from 0 to nearly 100km / h in just 1/100 seconds. In addition, researchers from Brown University discovered a more interesting thing in this species.

According to an article published on the Scientific Reports, the team found that the chameleon's tongue was even more exotic than what we had known before, when it possessed the highest acceleration and produced strength per kilogram of larger muscle. Any reptile, bird, or mammal has ever existed. This detail has been overlooked in previous studies of chameleon species, mainly because the smallest types of chameleon species have not appeared in previous studies.

The smallest chameleon can release a tongue like a powerful punch.

"The smallest types have a higher efficiency between tongue strength and body mass than larger ones . " Christopher Anderson, the study's lead author and researcher at the doctoral thesis at Brown University's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, said. "What this study shows is that by using smaller types, we can shed light on why these higher performance values ​​are."

According to the group's research, when they surveyed over 20 different chameleon types, they realized the smallest types of chameleon can release a tongue like a powerful punch . Anderson and his team realized this by taking each kind of chameleon and placing them in front of a high-speed camera for a cricket.

When chameleon launches the tongue towards the cricket, Anderson and his colleagues can measure the speed and acceleration of the tongue by shooting video interactively at a rate of 3,000 frames per second.

While the most effective chameleon type - also known as Rhampholeon Spinosus - can fit in your fingertips, their tongue can be launched at a maximum acceleration of 264 times the acceleration. gravity, equivalent to a capacity of 14,040 Watt per kg.

Chameleon species Rhampholeon Spinosus.

Anderson realized that the smallest types of chameleon proved to be superior to those of larger size in terms of maximum acceleration, relative strength and relative length of the tongue when launched compared to size. body. Take the example of Furcifer Oustaleti, a type of chameleon about 2 feet long, but its tongue only has a maximum acceleration of 18% compared to Rhampholeon Spinosus, a kind of tiny chameleon.

This biological wonder can do so by pre-loading energy into elastic tissues located on the chameleon's tongue. When energy is released, the bounce from these tissues allows the tongue to be released better than just relying on spontaneous muscle bundles in the tongue.

And to answer the question of why, smaller chameleon species develop this ability better than their big relatives, Anderson said, because the smaller chameleon has to consume the same. more energy for the body to survive. Therefore, the tongue must be particularly good when catching prey will give them a competitive advantage in catching the prey to be more efficient.