Cat
Actual Elapsed Time: 7/10ths of a second
It's not surprising that cats like milk, but the way they use their tongue to slurp it up is hardly what you would suspect. Anyone who has ever felt a catŐs tongue knows it is covered with sharp barbs. The barbs are useful for grooming - they act like the teeth in combs. For a long time, people thought cats used these barbs as tiny buckets to carry liquid to the mouth for swallowing. Slow-motion movies provide proof that that is not the way a catŐs tongue works. Instead, the tongue curls backwards, making the bottom of the tongue into a cup. The milk is carried up on the bottom of the tongue, though some flips up to hit the nose until it is licked off.
How This Clip Was Made:
This slow-motion video was created using a special video camera that takes 250 images a second, as opposed to only 30 images a second for a normal video camera. The video was then digitized and transferred to a computer. Production: Paul Shain, Bob Hone, Heidi Frieze. Post-Production: Brennan Doyle. Special Thanks: Dick Freeborg, NAC Visual Systems.
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