Herrel A, Meyers J J, Aerts P, Nishikawa K C
University of Antwerp, Department of Biological Sciences, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Belgium.
J Exp Biol. 2000 Nov;203(Pt 21):3255-63. doi: 10.1242/jeb.203.21.3255.
Iguanian lizards generally use their tongue to capture prey. Because lingual prehension is based on surface phenomena (wet adhesion, interlocking), the maximal prey size that can be captured is small. However, published records show that prey items eaten by chameleons include small vertebrates such as lizards and birds, indicating that these lizards are using a different prey prehension mechanism. Using high-speed video recordings, cineradiography, electromyography, nerve transection and stimulation experiments, we investigated the function of the tongue during prey capture. The results of these experiments indicate that chameleons have modified the primitive iguanian system by including a suction component in their prehension mechanism. Suction is generated by the activity of two modified intrinsic tongue muscles that pull the tongue pad inwards. Moreover, we demonstrate that the mechanism described here is a prerequisite for successful feeding.
鬣蜥一般用舌头捕捉猎物。由于舌捕食基于表面现象（湿黏附、互锁），所以能够捕捉的最大猎物尺寸较小。然而，已发表的记录表明，变色龙所捕食的猎物包括小型脊椎动物，如蜥蜴和鸟类，这表明这些蜥蜴使用的是不同的猎物捕食机制。我们通过高速视频记录、X射线动态成像、肌电图、神经切断和刺激实验，研究了捕食过程中舌头的功能。这些实验结果表明，变色龙通过在其捕食机制中加入吸力成分，对原始的鬣蜥系统进行了改良。吸力是由两块经过改良的舌内肌的活动产生的，它们将舌垫向内拉。此外，我们证明这里所描述的机制是成功进食的先决条件。
