There's lots of interesting biomechanics going on in this short high-speed video of a toad eating a cricket. For example, watch the tongue elongate from its own inertia as it whips out of the toad's mouth. And see how the toad's eyes start to close as it swallows the cricket at the end of the film? That's not satisfaction -- it's using its eyes to help shove the food down its throat.
For details, see
Lappin, A. K., Monroy, J. A., Pilarski, J. Q., Zepnewski, E. D., Pierotti, D. J. and Nishikawa, K. C. (2006). Storage and recovery of elastic potential energy powers ballistic prey capture in toads. J. Exp. Biol. 209, 2535-2553.
Levine, R. P., J. A. Monroy and E. L. Brainerd 2004.Contribution of eye retraction to swallowing performance in the northern leopard frog, Rana pipiens. J. Exp. Biol. 207: 1361-1368.
Video by Stephen Deban and Kristopher Lappin.
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