Frog tongue surface microstructures: functional and evolutionary patterns

• Thomas Kleinteich and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 893–903, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.81

• in the spectra of prey items between frog taxa. Keywords: adhesion; amphibians; biological materials; feeding; high-resolution micro-CT; Introduction Frogs (Lissamphibia: Anura) are famous for their adhesive tongues, which allow them to catch elusive prey. While the movements of the tongue during

• ornata, and Litoria spp., no notable surface structures could be observed. The surfaces of the filiform papillae in these species appear irregularly shaped (Figure 2A–D). Three-dimensional organization of the tongue tissue: Contrast enhanced high-resolution micro-CT imaging allowed us to visualize the