Horned frogs hunt with a super-sticky tongue

A South American frog species has a tongue sticky enough to pull weights up to three times its own body weight.

Researchers from University of Kiel in Germany placed horned frogs (Ceratophrys sp.) behind pressure-sensitive glass and showed them food items. When the frogs tried to snare the food their tongues struck the glass to give a measure of the force generated.

According to the researchers, the frog owes the stickiness of its tongue not to the mucus in its mouth, but to the material and texture of the tongue itself.