A tongue for all seasons: extreme phenotypic flexibility in salamandrid newts.

Abstract excerpt

Many organisms faced with seasonally fluctuating abiotic and biotic conditions respond by altering their phenotype to account for the demands of environmental changes. Here we discovered that newts, which switch seasonally between an aquatic and terrestrial lifestyle, grow a complex adhesive system on their tongue pad consisting of slender lingual papillae and mucus-producing cells to increase the efficiency of...

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