Question

A. If you were a fish and someone put a plate of food on the floor, what problem would you have and why?

B. What are two changes would you want to make in order to eat like an amphibian?

C. What change in the skull would you want to make in order to eat like a reptile?

Answer 1

A.   If you were a fish and someone put a plate of food on the floor, what problem would you have and why? (If I ignore the fact that I’ll die without water since I don’t have lungs to breathe in the air) I’ll not be able to eat the food because of the presence of a bony tongue. In fishes, the tongue does not have taste buds and very restricted motion because it is adapted to protect the ventral aorta. While feeding a large food the aorta can get damaged because it is present very close to the end of the mouth. In the absence of limbs and tongue, it would be difficult to reach and swallow the food. In fishes, the adaptation for feeding involves suction of food and gulping of food with a large amount of water (Since water is present all around the food).

B.    What are two changes would you want to make in order to eat like an amphibian? Amphibians have 1) long tongue attached on the front side of the mouth which can grab the food from a very large distance. 2) The widely open mouth also helps to swallow easily 3) The stickiness of the tongue prevents the prey to escape from the mouth. 4) Long and strong back legs help in hopping and reaching the food quickly.

C. What change in the skull would you want to make in order to eat like a reptile? Reptiles have 1) strong neck to fight and tear the prey 2) the tongue helps in capturing the prey and transferring the captured prey towards the backside of the mouth. The mucus glands present on the tongue helps the smooth swallowing of the food. Many reptiles have strong teeth to hold firmly and tear the prey.