Scientists Crack Biggest Frog Mystery

Tongues are known to be among the strongest muscles in humans. However, frogs take it to the next level, as they are strong enough to turn into superpowers, if Marvel is to be believed.

While the real amphibians do not have 30-foot tongues for battle, their own tongues are not less deadly, given their size -- so people really only have to worry if they are a bug or a cricket. Still, as Augustus Waller said in his study published in the journal Philosophical Transactions, the tongue acts as an agent that seizes the prey. How these animals could maintain their grip, however, is not as easily understood.

According to The Washington Post, a previous study noted that the frog's tongue can lift objects 1.4 times their body weight, and the mechanism is somewhat similar to glue on the back of a post-it note. The so-called glue, as recently discovered, is none other than the frog's own spit.

Alexis C. Noel, a doctorate biomechanics student at the Georgia Institute of Technology, noted in a study that frog spit can change physical properties. It can turn into a form of glue that is more viscous than honey, to a thinner fluid and back again. This change can allow the animals to capture meals at the same time that it allows humans to think and speak a word.

Unlike humans that rely on salivary glands to produce spit, the frog's tongue itself produces these liquids. Therefore, cutting off the tongue will mean that the tongue itself can still produce spit and would not dry out.

Noel and her colleagues are now envisioning possible applications for frog tongue technology, admittedly, on the more whimsical side of science. However, she did note that there could be a future in frog-like drone tech -- like quadcopters being used for delivery systems that could pick up cargo -- in the "blink" of the tongue.