Moisture harvesting and water transport through specialized micro-structures on the integument of lizards

• Philipp Comanns,
• Christian Effertz,
• Florian Hischen,
• Konrad Staudt,
• Wolfgang Böhme and
• Werner Baumgartner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 204–214, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.24

• directed to the mouth. Taken together we found that the micro ornamentation yields a superhydrophilic surface, and the semi-tubular capillaries allow for an efficient passive – and for Phrynosoma directed – transport of water. Keywords: capillary; horned lizard; rain harvesting; thorny devil; water

• (2) it must be transported to the place of ingestion. It is well known that not only insects (e.g., the famous Namibian tenebrionid beetles) but also several deserticolous and savanicolous lizards are able to collect water with their integument, and this ability has been termed "rain harvesting" [1