Future engineering breakthroughs may be inspired by an unlikely source – the tongues of salamanders and chameleons. 

Now, a new study from the University of South Florida’s Deban Laboratory shows humans can learn from the animal’s nature.  

Salamanders and chameleons are two different classes of animals living in very different habitats.

This study is the first to reveal that they use the same mechanism to propel their tongues at lightning-fast speeds. 

Yu Zeng is a postdoctoral researcher at USF.

“They can quickly launch their tongue, grab the prey, pull the prey back to their mouth within the time of your eye blink,” Zeng told WMNF.

Zeng compared the mechanism to propelling a melon seed.

“You put a wet lubricated melon seed between your fingers and you pinch it. You can launch the melon seed. That is exactly the same mechanism here, where you apply pressure to a tapered, rigid object. That pressure can be transferred to a source that pushes that object away,” Zeng said.

He said his findings can have practical applications, and their “slingshot method” could inspire devices that could clear blood clots, retrieve objects from collapsed buildings, or even debris from outer space. 

“All these scenarios that require urgent retrieval of a object, sometimes without human interference. So that’s where a potential device that mimics ballistic tongues can fill that gap,” Zeng said.

In addition to these breakthroughs, Zeng also hopes his research will bring a bigger appreciation for wildlife.

The post USF study finds salamander and chameleon tongues could inspire engineering breakthroughs appeared first on WMNF 88.5 FM.