Strange, extinct amphibians had rapid-fire slingshots

Step aside, chameleons. There was once another quick tongue that made sticky waves in the animal kingdom. A new study published in Science Thursday shows that the now-extinct amphibians known as albanian petontids (or albies) are the earliest users of a slingshot-style tongue that is used to tear prey from the air by contracting and launching at high speed.

A series of 99 million year old albie fossils discovered in Myanmar also introduce the world to a new species, Yaksha perettii. Based on the size of the skull, scientists were able to estimate an adult height of about two inches without a tail. Don’t be fooled that they were weak, the tiny amphibians were armored and their tongues acted like a deadly rapid-fire fist.

Edward Stanley, co-author of the study and director of the Florida Museum of Natural History’s Digital Discovery and Dissemination Laboratory, said, “This discovery adds a super cool piece to the puzzle of this obscure group of strange little animals.”

Knowing that they had that ballistic tongue gives us a whole new understanding of this entire line. ”

The discovery of the fossils was considered almost unremarkable, with a tongue bone classifying the fossils as a chameleon until Susan Evans, professor of vertebrate morphology and paleontology at University College London, recognized the tell-tale signs of an albie – namely, the unusual jaw and neck joints and forward-looking eyes .

While the discovery of a ballistic-tongued amphibian sounds like it will help us understand the lineages of amphibians such as frogs and salamanders, Evans warns that it may not.

“In theory, albies could give us a clue as to what the ancestors of modern amphibians looked like,” she said. “Unfortunately they are so specialized and so strange in their own way that they don’t help us too much.”