Page 21 - Amphibian
P. 21
SLOW, SLOW, QUICK …
Newts, salamanders, and caecilians tend to eat slow-
moving, soft-bodied animals; like this earthworm.
They approach their prey slowly, then make a
quick, last-minute grab, often turning their
head to one side. They grip the food using
teeth in their upper and lower jaws.
Wood louse
Eyelid starting
to close
Tongue flips
out from
Orange striped newt eating front of
an earthworm mouth
SUCCESSFUL STRIKE Making a meal
3 With the precision of of a mealworm
a guided missile homing in on its
target, the frog’s tongue flips out of the
open mouth and strikes the wood louse.
Watching its prey
SEE IT, WATCH
IT, EAT IT
Toads are careful,
TONGUE FLIPS deliberate feeders. Ready for action
The boy’s party This Eurasian
whistle flips open common toad’s
and forward because attention has been attracted by
air is blown into it. a wriggling mealworm. It turns its
But the tongue of a head toward its prey, watching it
frog or toad flips intently. Some toads may even stalk
out and over, their prey using creeping, catlike
because muscles movements. Suddenly, leaning over
in the floor of the the mealworm, the toad gives a rapid
mouth push the tongue-flick, and the mealworm
tongue forward. Eyes firmly shut disappears. As the toad swallows, it Tongue flicks out
as ornate horned blinks and the pressure of the eyeball
frog swallows helps push the food down.
its prey
… TAKES SOME SWALLOWING
The blinking of the eye
pushes the eyeball
All but down, increases the
the tail has pressure in the … and mealworm disappears
disappeared mouth, and helps
the toad swallow
its meal.
Toad swallows,
blinking its eyes
1
