Figure 5.

Tongue projections are rapid and ballistic. All panels: n = 268. A, Movement of the tongue tip during all recorded projections. Projections were grouped into three projection distance categories (short, middle, long) by dividing the range of projection distances into three equal-sized bins. Tongue motion was largely independent of prey distance until deceleration just before prey contact. B, Histogram of peak tongue velocity for all recorded projections, from 6 different salamanders. C, Time to contact between tongue and prey, for all projections.