How Cats Lap: Water Uptake by Felis catus
How Cats Lap: Water Uptake by Felis catus
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DOI：
10.1126/science.1195421
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发表时间：
2010-11-26
期刊：
影响因子：
56.9
通讯作者：
Stocker, Roman
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Reis, Pedro M.;Jung, Sunghwan;Stocker, Roman
动物根据生理和环境的限制发展了一系列的饮水策略。脸颊不完整的脊椎动物用舌头喝水;最常见的例子是猫和狗的舔。我们表明，家猫（猫卡图斯）圈的一个微妙的机制的基础上，水粘附到背侧的舌头。结合实验和理论分析表明，猫卡图斯利用流体惯性克服重力，把液体拉进嘴里。惯性和重力之间的这种竞争设定了研磨频率，并预测了频率对动物质量的依赖性。测量整个家庭猫科动物的研磨频率支持这一预测，这表明研磨机制是保守的猫科动物。
Animals have developed a range of drinking strategies depending on physiological and environmental constraints. Vertebrates with incomplete cheeks use their tongue to drink; the most common example is the lapping of cats and dogs. We show that the domestic cat (Felis catus) laps by a subtle mechanism based on water adhesion to the dorsal side of the tongue. A combined experimental and theoretical analysis reveals that Felis catus exploits fluid inertia to defeat gravity and pull liquid into the mouth. This competition between inertia and gravity sets the lapping frequency and yields a prediction for the dependence of frequency on animal mass. Measurements of lapping frequency across the family Felidae support this prediction, which suggests that the lapping mechanism is conserved among felines.