title: Dogs lap using acceleration-driven open pumping.
abstract: Dogs lap because they have incomplete cheeks and cannot suck. When lapping, a dog's tongue pulls a liquid column from the bath, suggesting that the hydrodynamics of column formation are critical to understanding how dogs drink. We measured lapping in 19 dogs and used the results to generate a physical model of the tongue's interaction with the air-fluid interface. These experiments help to explain how dogs exploit the fluid dynamics of the generated column. The results demonstrate that effects of acceleration govern lapping frequency, which suggests that dogs curl the tongue to create a larger liquid column. Comparing lapping in dogs and cats reveals that, despite similar morphology, these carnivores lap in different physical regimes: an unsteady inertial regime for dogs and steady inertial regime for cats.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061;
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gart
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061;
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Socha
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907.
authors.forename: Pavlos P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Vlachos
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061; sunnyjsh@vt.edu.
authors.forename: Sunghwan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jung
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002415:Cats / Q000502:physiology; D004285:Dogs / Q000502:physiology*; D004326:Drinking / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D014059:Tongue / Q000502:physiology*; D014741:Video Recording
keywords: biomechanics; drinking; lapping; open pumping