When someone says the great unwashed eat with their center , they usually mean that we assess and appreciate food by lot well before it ever hit our tongue . ( What ’s more , the appearance offoodand even thecontainerit ’s in can actually change our perception of its appreciation . ) If they ’re talking about frogs , though , they entail it in a much unlike , more genuine means .
Scientists and nature lovers have often pointed out that Gaul ’ and toads ’ eyes shut closely and sometimes seem to sink into their heads when they withdraw food for thought . This is because , scientist proposed , the amphibians ’ eyes wreak a role in moving the food along . Specifically , they push food for thought down the throat like a trash compactor . As biologist Mary Dickersonput itin 1906 , “ Strange as it may seem , the large eyes of the the toad frog can be pressed down into the rima oris as far below its ceiling as they rise above the head , and the apparent movement aid effectually in accept . ”
That does seem unusual , but also really coolheaded . The catch is that no one really tested the idea until 2004 , when a team of biologists at the University of Massachusettsset outto see just what a leopard batrachian ’s eyes are up to when it eat .
ex - ray videos of the fauna taken during meal time bring out that the eye did move into the mouth , “ get in inter-group communication with the prey and appeared to storm it toward the pharynx . ” Recordings of the electrical activity in the eye retractor muscle , meanwhile , show that the heart retractions were participating and on determination , and that the oculus were n’t just sinking due to low pressure in the mouth below them during swallowing . Finally , an experiment where the investigator cut the boldness to the retractor muscular tissue testify that salientian that could n’t retract their eyes were still able to swallow , but had to swallow almost twice as many times as usual to get each bit of food down .
All this suggests , the researchers say , that frogs ' center do facilitate them swallow by help the tongue in agitate solid food into the pharynx , and likely contribute more to the process when their meals are expectant .
[ h / tIo9 ]
