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By Frankie Schembri
In addition to purring, purring and nagging their owners for treats, cats spend a lot of their waking time licking themselves. Now scientists have shed light on how the tiny, sharp cones of the cat's tongue cleanse their fur and skin thoroughly, instead of just spreading their tongue.
The researchers created 3D images of tongues taken after the death of a domestic cat, a bobcat, a cougar, a snow leopard, a tiger and a lion. The cones – or papillae – of all species bore hollow cavities in the form of half-pipes on their ends. By exploiting a property of water called surface tension, in which the cohesive forces between the water molecules keep them stuck in a droplet and the adhesive forces help the droplet to adhere to the papillae, these cavities in U-shape helps cats move saliva droplets into their upper layers of fur in deeper layers and on the skin.
Slow-motion images of several grooming cats reveal that the felines have their tongues open as they take a big shot of ice cream cone so that the taste buds stand at the perpendicular while they are still in the dark. they move through the fur. This motion maximizes the amount of fur each papilla can reach, the team reports today in the newspaper. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
But cats do not lick themselves to stay clean. According to thermal imaging, saliva helps them cool off, an important tool because cats only have sweat glands on the leather of their paws.
Scientists used the results to create a "grooming program inspired by the language". [TIGR] "Brush" that mimics a cat's tongue with 3D printed papillae inserted into a soft silicone pad. Compared to a stiff-bristled hairbrush, the researchers said the TIGR brush pulled less well when it went through the hair and was easier to clean. The brush could even help administer drugs directly to the cat's skin, the team said. And for those of us who love our pets but not their loss, the cat comb is an easy way to remove the fur from the couch.
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