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The Beef in Back


Moondance

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That beak knows where to go for some fun.

 

Well, looks like you were on the right track... I didn't know this fact about flamingos...

 

Quoted from blogs.scientificamerican.com:

"Another study, published in Anatomical Record in 2006 by biologist Casey Holliday and professor of anatomy Lawrence Witmer from Ohio University, found erectile tissue in the flamingo’s beak. Flamingos are known for their odd way of eating – they stand in shallow water, and put their beaks in an almost upside-down position in the water to catch food as it floats by. Their tongues act like pumps that manipulate the water, squeeze the food out and trap it. When Holliday and Witmer constructed a 3D model of a flamingo’s head, they noticed large, oval-shaped masses of erectile tissue on the floor of its mouth and running along either side of its tongue. Just like the erectile tissue in a man’s penis, this stiffens when filled with blood – like when the head is tipped upside-down – and helps to strengthen and support the floor of the mouth and tongue when the flamingo is feeding. “We suspect this stabilises the mouth and tongue and helps with the peculiar way that flamingos eat,” said Witmer. “It’s an important new piece of the puzzle of flamingo feeding – frankly, a piece we hadn’t known was missing.”"

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The message forum will not be available for the month of December so that we can do a major upgrade and to give the Staff some much needed time off.

 

Sayonara... Hasta luego... Arrivederci... Ci vediamo... Au revoir... It will be nice to get a break, though it's been so much fun lately... :):):):):)

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