A cryptic intermediate in the evolution of chameleon tongue projection.
An incipient form of tongue projection occurs in Phrynocephalus helioscopus, a generalized agamid lizard. We argue that this condition represents a functional intermediate between typical lingual prehension and chamaeleontid tongue projection, and that tongue projection evolved in chameleons by augmentation of ancestral mechanisms still operating in related, generalized lizards.
Schwenk
K
K
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138.
Bell
D A
DA
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D008116:Lizards / Q000502:physiology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D014059:Tongue / Q000502:physiology