Uploaded November 2010 | Updated September 2026, 15 hours ago

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This movie shows three lapping events of an adult domestic cat, Felis catus, during its normal drinking process. Tap water was mixed with a small amount of liquid yogurt to aid visualization. The video was recorded at 120 frames/s and is here shown slowed down four times. As the tip of the tongue comes in contact with the liquid surface, water adheres to the dorsal side of the tongue's tip. A liquid column forms when the tongue is rapidly lifted. The liquid column grows by inertia, until gravity induces its break-up through pinch-off. Jaw closure results in the capture and ingestion of part of this column.

Read the full story at:
discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/how-the-cat-that-got-the-cream-then-drank-it

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Video courtesy of Roman Stocker, Sunghwan Jung, Jeffrey M. Aristoff and Pedro M. Reis

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