The way cats lap up liquid so elegantly has always enamored people. Now the mystery has been cracked by Dr Roman Stocker Working with researchers from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Princeton University using high speed camera.
The scientists discovered that cats use their tongues to delicately draw up water without breaking the surface of the liquid. Dr Sticker explains “The fluid comes in contact with the tongue and sticks to it, and then the action of the tongue being drawn upwards very rapidly creates a liquid column. Then, by closing its jaw, the cat captures part of that liquid”. This is quite different from dogs, which employ the method of scooping action to quench their thirst.
Big cats such as tigers, leopards and cheetahs also use the same mechanism to draw up liquid.
Details of the study appears in the journal Science
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