# s-chem: a viscoelastic tongue with reversible saliva (spit and softness) to hang on to the next meal

<< A frog uses its whip-like tongue to snag its prey faster than a human can blink, hitting it with a force five times greater than gravity >>

<< A frog's saliva is thick and sticky during prey capture, then turns thin and watery as prey is removed inside the mouth >>

<< The tongue, which was found to be as soft as brain tissue and 10 times softer than a human's tongue, stretches and stores energy much like a spring >>

<< This combination of spit and softness is so effective that it provides the tongue 50 times greater work of adhesion than synthetic polymer materials such as sticky-hand toys >>

<< There are actually three phases (..) When the tongue first hits the insect, the saliva is almost like water and fills all the bug's crevices. Then, when the tongue snaps back, the saliva changes and becomes more viscous—thicker than honey, actually—gripping the insect for the ride back. The saliva turns watery again when the insect is sheared off inside the mouth >>

Reversible saliva allows frogs to hang on to next meal.  Jan. 31, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-01-reversible-saliva-frogs-meal.html

Alexis C.Noel, Hao-Yuan Guo, et al. Frogs use a viscoelastic tongue and non-Newtonian saliva to catch prey. Journal of The Royal Society Interface. Publ. 1 February 2017. DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2016.0764

http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/14/127/20160764