A CHAMELEON鈥橲 tongue has unusual 鈥渟upercontracting鈥� muscles that allow it to
reel in large prey, such as other lizards and birds, from as far as two body
lengths away.
Researchers in Arizona and in Belgium wondered how chameleons manage to grab
heavy prey from such large distances. When a typical muscle is stretched out, it
can鈥檛 generate much force. 鈥淭ry to do a pull-up with your arm fully
extended鈥攊t isn鈥檛 easy,鈥� says Kiisa Nishikawa of Northern Arizona
University in Flagstaff. But Nishikawa and her colleagues have shown that the
chameleon has unique tongue muscles that exert maximal force鈥攅ven when
completely extended (The Journal of Experimental Biology, vol 204, p
3621).