Researchers investigate how the
blue-tongued skink uses a full-tongue display to deter attacking predators
Date: June 7, 2018
Source: Springer
When attacked, bluetongue skinks
open their mouth suddenly and as wide as possible to reveal their conspicuously
coloured tongues. This surprise action serves as their last line of defence to
save themselves from becoming prey says Martin Whiting, of Macquarie University
in Australia, who conceived the study just published in Springer's
journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. The research revealed that
the back of the northern bluetongue skink's tongue is much more UV-intense and
luminous than the front, and that this section is only revealed in the final
stages of an imminent attack.
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