Copying lizards' siphoning skin

By making a plastic replica in the lab, scientists have discovered how the skin of the Texas horned lizard funnels water towards its mouth.

This reptile can collect water from anywhere, including the sand it walks on; the fluid then travels to its mouth through channels between its scales.

Writing in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, a German-Austrian team quantified the key features of those channels - including the particular way they interlock, and a tendency to narrow towards the animal's head.

Here, a 1cm piece of the bio-inspired copy, made from laser-etched plastic, is shown transporting coloured water.

The researchers say the design could have engineering applications in distilleries, heat exchangers, or small medical devices where condensation is a problem.

Footage courtesy of P. Comanns / Journal of the Royal Society Interface