WIKIMEDIA, H. KRISP
Amphibious fish known as mudskippers spit water at their prey to aid in grabbing and gulping down food, according to a study published this week (March 18) in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The technique, which bridges the underwater suction feeding of fish and the tongue-based swallowing of terrestrial animals, could explain how four-legged creatures evolved to eat on land.
Researchers from the University of Antwerp in Belgium filmed Atlantic mudskippers (Periophthalmus barbarous) eating pieces of brown shrimp on a Plexiglass plate. By reducing the speed of their X-ray and regular video 50-fold, the scientists were able to analyze the motions involved in the animals’ half-second-long eating process. First, the mudskippers spit water out of their mouths, covering the food. The fish then ...
