The talent to fling tongue, to a length that is 2.5 times more than its own body, is a feature that makes the rosette-nosed pygmy chameleon a unique species of lizard. This few inches long chameleon flings its tongue at a speed of 0-60 miles per hour in a hundredth of a second. It is surprising to know that the lizard’s flinging speed is 300 times faster than acceleration of a 2015 Chevrolet Corvette. The scientific name of this endangered species is Rhampholeon spinosus and they dwell only in the Usambara Mountains of Tanzania.

The scientists have finally been able to discover the secret behind this lizard’s extremely high tongue speed, which compensates for its small size. The research was undertaken by the team of Christopher Anderson, a biologist at the Brown University. The study involved assessment of 20 species of chameleon, which were of different length. The aim was to determine the maximum limit of speed that a chameleon tongue can achieve.

The reason behind this strength is that the chameleon is capable of storing huge amounts of energy in the elastic tissue of its tongue. Subsequently, this energy boosts the muscle power for launching the tongue. “Smaller species have higher performance than larger species”, said Anderson. Trioceros hoehnelii species generates the maximum speed and energy output per kilogram of muscle power. This chameleon can achieve a maximum speed that is 264 times faster than the force of gravity.