Plenary Speaker: Dr. Kurt Schwenk

How do some lizards use their tongue to catch their prey? That is the question that plenary speaker Kurt Schwenk has spent his career trying to answer. As a kickoff to Anatomy Connected ’24, Dr. Schwenk described his process of combining extremely high-speed cameras and histological specimens to examine the tongue of squamate lizards, specifically iguanas, and their close relatives, chameleons. Here are a few key takeaways.

• It’s all about the surface.
  • The surface of the iguana and chameleon tongue is packed with filamentous papillae that act like fingers, latching onto their prey. In addition, their tongues are filled with mucous-producing cells that keep the tongue attached.
• Not all tongues work the same.
  • Skinks independently evolved tongue-assisted feeding habits, so their tongues are a little different. Instead of a filamentous surface, they change the shape of their tongue to increase the surface area, creating a pocket that traps the prey.
• Chameleons have a tongue that is similar to an elephant’s trunk.
  • Looking at a chameleon’s open mouth, it would be easy to assume that their tongue is completely normal, but as Dr. Schwenk put it, “They hide their weirdness in a deep pocket down below”. It turns out that when their tongues protruded, a pocket in the tongue filled with mucous-producing cells everts and eventually envelops the prey, allowing the chameleon to reel it back in.

Dr. Schwenk's research peels back the layers of mystery surrounding these creatures, reminding us that even in the most minute aspects of the natural world, wonders are waiting to be uncovered. Whether it's the iguana's filamentous papillae or the chameleon's unique tongue dimple, the secrets of their success are fascinating. As this plenary session closed, we left with a deeper understanding and appreciation of the complex strategies these animals employ to thrive in their ecological niches.