USF study: Reptile tongue movements could inspire biomedical and space tools

Media Contact:
John Dudley
(814) 490-3290 (cell)
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Key takeaways:

• Salamanders and chameleons, despite evolving in different habitats, use the same “slingshot” tongue mechanism powered by ordinary tissues, tendons and bone.
• This biological design could be scaled for human applications, from biomedical devices that clear blood clots to large-scale tools for disaster recovery or space exploration.
• The findings underscore how nature’s solutions can guide technological innovation.

TAMPA, Fla. (Sept. 8, 2025) – The tongues of chameleons and salamanders might not seem like the inspiration for tomorrow’s engineering innovations, but inside the University of South Florida’s Deban Laboratory, biology and engineering are colliding to reveal how nature’s designs could help solve real-world challenges on Earth and beyond.

A new study from USF postdoctoral researcher Yu Zeng and integrative biology Professor Stephen Deban shows for the first time that salamanders and chameleons – though worlds apart in evolution – use the same biological mechanism to fire their tongues at extreme speeds. The discovery, published on the cover of the Sept. 8 edition of Current Biology, not only deepens understanding of animal movement but also opens the door to engineering applications inspired by nature.

Chameleons and salamanders thrive in very different habitats – with chameleons inhabiting warm, arboreal environments and salamanders favoring moist habitats such as rivers, ponds, leaf litter and caves.

“They have actually never met each other in the wild,” Zeng said.

And yet, the USF team found both groups developed a remarkably similar “ballistic” tongue-firing system.

“They evolved the same architecture in their bodies to fire their tongues at high speed,” Zeng explained. “What’s surprising is that they achieve this using the same ordinary tissues, tendons and bone that other vertebrates have.”

Deban, who has studied animal movements for more than three decades, said Zeng brought a new lens to the research. A specialist in insect flight, Zeng expanded the scope of the lab’s work by connecting biomechanics with engineering possibilities.

Video analysis collected over more than a decade in Deban’s lab shows that both salamanders and chameleons can project their tongues at speeds of up to 16 feet per second. The study is the first to place these species side by side and reveal a unifying mechanical model.

The mechanism works much like a slingshot, and that’s what excites Zeng and Deban about its potential beyond the animal world.

“This mechanism can be scaled up or down, using soft or flexible materials,” Zeng said. “We’re already talking with engineers about possible biomedical applications, like devices that could clear blood clots. On a larger scale, it could inspire tools to retrieve objects in hard-to-reach places like a collapsed building or even grabbing debris in outer space.”

The researchers plan to expand their studies to examine how animal tongues retract with such speed and precision. Their work reflects the growing scientific movement of “bioinspiration,” in which researchers develop new technologies by adapting solutions already perfected in nature.

“It is gratifying to have a unifying story about these amazing tongues, as well as potential engineering applications after so many years of focusing on the biology of these animals,” Deban said. “Nature has already solved these problems, now we’re learning how to adapt those solutions for us.”

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About the University of South Florida

The University of South Florida is a top-ranked research university serving approximately 50,000 students from across the globe at campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee and USF Health. USF is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a top 50 public university and the best value in Florida. U.S. News also ranks the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine as the No. 1 medical school in Florida and in the highest tier nationwide. USF is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), a group that includes only the top 3% of universities in the U.S. With an all-time high of $738 million in research funding in 2024 and as a top 20 public university for producing U.S. patents, USF uses innovation to transform lives and shape a better future. The university generates an annual economic impact of more than $6 billion. USF’s Division I athletics teams compete in the American Conference. Learn more at www.usf.edu.