Beilstein J. Nanotechnol.2011,2, 204–214, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.24
. Within this capillary system the water is transported to the mouth where it is ingested. We have investigated three different lizard species which have developed the ability for moisture harvesting independently, viz. the Australian thornydevil (Moloch horridus), the Arabian toadhead agama
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; thornydevil; water
: Phrynosomatinae) was extensively studied and described by [1]. However, other lizards such as the Australian thornydevil (Moloch horridus, Agamidae) lack such behavioural traits but nonetheless perform moisture harvesting in a successful way [2][3][4][5].
As well as Phrynosoma and Moloch [6][7][8], moisture
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Figure 1:
The three lizard species under investigation. (A) Moloch horridus with an array of spikes covering ...