Which bird has the longest tongue. Tongue from the nostrils and around the neck: just a woodpecker

The invention relates to a zeolite-coated metal foil and a method for manufacturing a zeolite-coated metal foil. The metal foil 1 is made in the form of an element 5 with a honeycomb structure. The foil is made of stainless steel containing aluminum and chromium. The foil is oxidized. A ceramic layer 3 and a zeolite layer 4 are deposited on the oxide layer 2. The oxide layer has an average surface roughness of 2-4 µm and an average height of profile irregularities of at least 0.2 µm. The improved method provides reliable adhesive strength of the coating. 2 s. and 18 z.p.f-ly, 3 ill.

The present invention relates to a metal foil coated with zeolite, as well as to a method for producing the same. Zeolites are specially formulated and suitably treated ceramic materials, which, due to their composition and structure, are distinguished by their specific absorption properties with respect to certain substances. Typical of zeolites is their ability to accumulate large amounts of gaseous substances at low temperatures, which they release again at elevated temperatures. There are a number of ways to use these properties of zeolites. One of them is, for example, to use zeolites to accumulate hydrocarbons formed in the exhaust gas system of the vehicle during the cold start phase of the engine, before heating the connected catalytic converter to a certain temperature in order to subsequently convert these substances. After heating the exhaust gas system to a certain temperature, the zeolite releases hydrocarbons, which are oxidized to water and carbon dioxide in a connected catalytic converter. For this and other similar purposes, zeolites are used primarily as coatings applied to honeycomb elements through which exhaust gas can be passed. At the same time, due to the ceramic composition of zeolites, at first, ceramic elements with a honeycomb structure were used as substrates. However, there is also a tendency to use honeycomb elements made of metal, such as stainless steel, as substrates and to coat them with zeolite. But under high variable thermal loads, such as in particular those that occur in the exhaust gas system of vehicles, it is important to ensure reliable adhesive strength of the coating, while taking into account the different thermal expansion coefficients of metal and ceramic materials. Closer to the invention is a metal foil in the form of an element with a honeycomb structure, made of stainless steel containing aluminum and preferably containing chromium, coated with an oxide layer and applied from a suspension of an adhesive ceramic layer and a layer of zeolite (patent EP 369576, class B 0 D 53/36, 1990). The catalytic system on a metal foil (metal substrate) is designed for afterburning the exhaust gases of an automobile engine. A metal foil in the form of a honeycomb element made of stainless steel containing chromium is obtained by oxidizing, followed by coating an oxide layer from a suspension of an adhesive ceramic layer and then a layer of zeolite. The objective of the invention is to develop a metal foil on which an adhesive-strong zeolite coating of any thickness can be applied. The aim of the present invention is also a method for producing said foil. First of all, it should be possible to pre-treat the metal element with a honeycomb structure after its manufacture and coating it with zeolite. The task is achieved by the described metal foil in the form of an element with a honeycomb structure, made of stainless steel containing aluminum and preferably containing chromium, coated with an oxide layer and deposited on it from a suspension with an adhesive ceramic layer and a zeolite layer, the oxide layer of which, according to the invention, has an average the surface roughness is 2-4 µm, preferably 3 µm, and the average height of the profile irregularities is at least 0.2 µm. This task is also achieved by the described method of obtaining a metal foil in the form of an element with a honeycomb structure made of stainless steel containing aluminum and preferably containing chromium by oxidizing it, followed by applying an adhesive ceramic layer on the oxide layer from a suspension and then a layer of zeolite, in which, according to the invention the steel foil is oxidized to form a fine-grained layer of aluminum oxide. The foil, provided with an oxide layer and an adhesion promoting layer, forms a ceramic structure on the outside, which can be coated with a layer of zeolite using known methods practiced with honeycomb ceramic elements, which until now was not possible with respect to metal substrates and metal foil. In this case, the zeolite layer can additionally also contain a catalytically active material, in particular noble metals, or additives of this material can be introduced subsequently without damaging the said zeolite layer. Moreover, such combined layers can be very effective in exhaust gas converters. For the purposes of the present invention, a heat and corrosion resistant steel foil preferably contains more than 3.5% aluminum and more than 15% chromium, more preferably about 5% aluminum and about 20% chromium. It is possible to apply a fine-grained alumina layer on such steel without impurities or with only a small amount of impurities of chromium and iron oxides, as is explained in more detail in the examples and drawings. This solution is possible primarily due to prolonged annealing in air. This forms an oxide layer which has an average surface roughness (arithmetic mean profile deviation R a) of 2-4 µm, preferably 3 µm, and an average profile height R z of which is at least 0.2 µm. This oxide layer can be coated with an adhesion-promoting alumina-based ceramic layer containing mainly γ-Al 2 O 3 by sol-gel dipping. Preferably, the thickness of this adhesion-promoting ceramic layer is 1-5 µm, more preferably about 2 µm. Said adhesion promoting layer must then have a specific surface area of ​​100 to 200 m 2 /g, preferably about 180 m 2 /g. Preferably, prior to coating, the foil is formed into a honeycomb structure in which at least a portion of the contact points thus formed are braze-soldered. An essential advantage of the present invention is that the surface of the metal foil is first pre-treated in such a way that a very uniform and fine-grained oxide layer, mainly an alumina layer, is formed as a result. It has been found that it is not possible to apply a zeolite layer with sufficient adhesive strength directly on this oxide layer, since the oxide layer and the zeolite layer have different properties and different structures. According to the invention, in this case, a suspension-applied ceramic adhesive layer can serve as an adhesion-promoting layer, which layer, on the one hand, is characterized by particularly good adhesion to the oxide layer, and, on the other hand, has a great similarity to the applied zeolite layer, due to which the adhesive strength of the zeolite layer to the adhesion promoting layer meets high requirements. In addition, after its application, the adhesion promoting layer can still be affected by calcination, thereby further improving the adhesion conditions for the subsequently applied zeolite layer. As explained in more detail below in the description of the process steps, the thickness of the layers and their surface properties, as well as the composition of the zeolite coating, play an important role in achieving the required adhesive strength in the future, especially under varying thermal loads. For example, a thin oxide layer provides good heat transfer between the metal and ceramic layers. A method for manufacturing a zeolite-coated metal foil includes the following steps:
a steel foil containing aluminum and preferably containing chromium is oxidized in such a way that a fine-grained layer of alumina is formed on the surface;
- on the oxide layer is applied from the suspension adhesive ceramic layer designed to increase adhesion;
- a layer of zeolite is applied to the ceramic layer intended to increase adhesion. Preferably the oxide layer is obtained by prolonged annealing at a temperature of 900-1000 o C, preferably at 950 o C, in air. Heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant steel containing, for example, about 5% aluminum and about 20% chromium, can be coated with a particularly fine-grained layer of alumina due to prolonged treatment for several hours at a temperature of the order of 950 o C in air. In FIG. 1a-1d shows the surface of such a foil in the initial state (Fig. 1a), after annealing for 5 hours (Fig. 1b), after annealing for 24 hours (Fig. 1c) and after annealing for 48 hours (Fig. 1d). ) at an annealing temperature of 950 o C in normal air. The result is a layer consisting of almost pure alumina with virtually no chromium or iron impurities. This surface layer is very fine grained and has an average surface roughness on the order of 3 µm and an average profile height of at least 0.2 µm. The adhesion strength of the adhesive ceramic layer to such a surface is particularly high. The deposition of such an alumina-based ceramic layer is preferably carried out according to the known sol-gel dipping method, in particular an alumina sol having a solids content of about 10% by weight is used. The adhesion-promoting layer thus applied after the dipping process is annealed for about 3 hours at a temperature of 500-650° C., preferably at 550° C., and this layer is mainly γ-Al 2 O 3 .
In the same way, a layer of zeolite can be applied by sol-gel dipping, and this technique is especially useful in cases where the specified layer, in addition to the zeolite, contains another 10-30 wt.% alumina, preferably about 20 wt.%. When this zeolite can be applied in NH 4 + - or H + -form obtained in a known way due to ion exchange. The zeolite to be applied, after homogenization of the mixture, is bound into a ceramic matrix, which is preferably a sol based on alumina, by long-term grinding for several hours in a colloid mill. It is particularly expedient to apply the described method to finished honeycomb elements made of metal foil, whereby these honeycomb elements of at least partially structured foil can be stacked, rolled up or used in some other way. The most typical is the use of elements with a honeycomb structure in the form of alternating layers of smooth and corrugated steel sheets, forming passage channels for the flow of exhaust gases. When coating elements with a honeycomb structure by sol-gel dipping, large amounts of deposited material remain on the side surfaces of the channels and therefore must be removed. For this purpose, a method known from the prior art of blowing with compressed air is used, however, this technique makes it difficult to obtain the most uniform thickness of the applied layer. According to the invention, it is particularly advantageous to remove excess coating material after application. last way centrifugation of an element with a honeycomb structure, in which the throughput channels should be located in the radial direction relative to the axis of the centrifuge. To obtain the most uniform layer thickness, centrifugation should be carried out sequentially in the direction of both ends, and for this purpose, the element with a honeycomb structure after the centrifugation step must be rotated by 180 o C. If the once selected thickness of the adhesion-promoting layer, which is, for example, 2 μm, remains unchanged during the further technological process, then the thickness of the zeolite coating can be increased, in particular, by repeating the process of applying this coating twice or multiple times, including applying the coating itself, centrifugation and calcination. With this technique, for each repeated coating cycle, a thickness of the zeolite layer of the order of 15 μm can be achieved. Preferably, the zeolite content of the coating applied to the honeycomb structure is at least 30 g/m 2 of the surface of the substrate. Obviously, such typical coating processing steps as drying the applied coatings prior to the calcining process under conditions to prevent cracking and the like are among the advantages of the present invention. For the sake of clarity, the present invention is illustrated in the drawings, which show: in Fig. 1a-1d - various stages of the oxidation process of the foil made of stainless steel; in fig. 2 is a schematic structure of a zeolite-coated foil made according to the invention, and FIG. 3 is a typical metal element with a honeycomb structure in cross section. In FIG. 2 shows, not to scale, a metal foil 1 provided with an oxide layer 2, a ceramic adhesive layer 3 and a zeolite layer 4. As shown schematically, the adhesion layer 3 through the oxide layer 2 rather has a mechanical bond with the metal foil 1 , while the adhesion between the adhesion promoting layer 3 and the zeolite layer 4 is due to their very similar material composition and associated cohesive forces. In FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a typical honeycomb element 5 formed from smooth and corrugated steel sheets, connected at the points of contact 6 of the sheets with each other by brazing. In this way, passage channels 7 for gases are formed. Honeycomb elements coated with zeolite according to the method according to the invention are particularly suitable for use in exhaust gas converters in vehicles with internal combustion engines in the cold start phase of the engine.

Claim

1. A metal foil in the form of an element with a honeycomb structure, made of stainless steel containing aluminum and preferably containing chromium, coated with an oxide layer and applied from a suspension of an adhesive ceramic layer and a zeolite layer, characterized in that the oxide layer has an average surface roughness of 2 - 4 µm, preferably 3 µm, and the average height of the profile irregularities is at least 0.2 µm. 2. Foil according to claim 1, characterized in that the foil 1 is made of heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant steel containing preferably more than 3.5% aluminum and more than 15% chromium, especially about 5% aluminum and about 20% chromium. 3. Foil according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the oxide layer 2 is a fine-grained alumina layer without impurities or with only a small amount of impurities of chromium and iron oxides, preferably formed by prolonged annealing in air. 4. Foil according to paragraphs. 1 to 3, characterized in that the adhesion-enhancing ceramic layer 3 based on alumina is applied by sol-gel dipping and contains mainly γ-Al 2 O 3 . 5. Foil according to claim 4, characterized in that the adhesion enhancing ceramic layer 3 has a thickness of 1 to 5 µm, preferably approximately 2 µm. 6. Foil according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the adhesion promoting ceramic layer 3 has a specific surface area in the range of 100 to 200 m 2 /g, preferably approximately 180 m 2 /g. 7. Foil according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an element 5 with a honeycomb structure is formed from the foil 1 before coating, and at least part of the contact points 6 formed in this case are fastened by brazing. 8. A method for producing a metal foil in the form of an element with a honeycomb structure made of stainless steel containing aluminum and preferably containing chromium, by oxidizing it, followed by applying an adhesive ceramic layer and then a zeolite layer on the oxide layer from a suspension, characterized in that the steel foil oxidized to form a fine-grained layer of aluminum oxide. 9. Method according to claim 8, characterized in that the foil 1 is made of heat and corrosion resistant steel containing preferably more than 3.5% aluminum and more than 15% chromium, in particular about 5% aluminum and about 20% chromium. 10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that an element 5 with a honeycomb structure is formed from the foil 1 before coating, and at least part of the contact points 6 formed are fastened by brazing. 11. The method according to paragraphs. 8, 9 or 10, characterized in that a fine-grained alumina layer 2 is formed on the foil 1 containing only small amounts of chromium and iron oxides, preferably by prolonged annealing in air. 12. The method according to p. 11, characterized in that the oxide layer 2 is obtained by prolonged annealing at a temperature of 900 - 1000 o C, preferably at 950 o C, in air. 13. The method according to one of paragraphs. 8-12, characterized in that the alumina-based ceramic adhesion promoting layer 3 is applied by sol-gel dipping and that this layer is mainly γ-Al 2 O 3 . 14. Method according to claim 13, characterized in that the adhesion-promoting ceramic layer 3 is applied in the form of an alumina sol, primarily with a solids content of approximately 10%. 15. Method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that the adhesion-promoting ceramic layer 3 is subjected to calcination at a temperature of 500-650° C., preferably at 550° C. for approximately 3 hours after being applied by dipping. pp. 8 - 15, characterized in that the zeolite layer 4 is applied by sol-gel dipping and, in addition to the zeolite, it contains 10 - 30 wt.% alumina, preferably approximately 20 wt.%. 17. The method according to one of paragraphs. 10-16, characterized in that after the zeolite adhesion-promoting layer 3 and/or zeolite layer 4 has been applied by dipping to the honeycomb element 5, excess amounts of coating material remaining in its cells 7 are removed by centrifugation of the honeycomb element 5. 18. The method according to one of paragraphs. 8 - 17, characterized in that celite 4 is applied in NH + 4 - or H + -form, obtained by the usual method due to ion exchange. 19. The method according to one of paragraphs. 8 - 18, characterized in that the applied zeolite 4 by continuous grinding in a colloid mill is bound into a ceramic matrix, preferably a sol based on alumina. 20. The method according to one of paragraphs. 8 - 19, characterized in that a zeolite is applied to the element with a honeycomb structure in an amount based on at least 30 g/m 2 of the substrate surface.

We encounter foil almost every day, most often without even noticing it. It is household and technical. The first is used for packaging products, making blisters for tablets, baking meat and vegetables. It is non-toxic, odorless and perfectly retains heat. The second is used in electronics and industry. Such a foil is plastic, heat-resistant and has a high reflectivity.

Who Invented Foil? Who and when had the idea to turn a piece of metal into a paper-thin sheet?

Truth and fiction

Sometimes you can find a mention that Percy Spencer invented the foil. In fact, this is not true at all. According to legend, Percy Spencer invented the microwave oven when he noticed that a turned on magnetron melted a chocolate bar in his pocket. But the chocolate bar was just wrapped in foil, which, perhaps, contributed to the heating process.

But who really invented foil? In reality, opinions differ radically. The first foil was gold, it is also called gold leaf. It appeared a very long time ago, even among the ancient Greeks and Egyptians. This is due to the fact that gold is the most ductile and malleable metal, that is, it is not difficult to flatten it into the thinnest sheet. Used it for decorating jewelry and gilding.

In Japan, craftsmen forged and stretched a piece of gold until it turned into a sheet of foil. When the leaves become very thin, no thicker than 0.001 mm, the foil is again beaten off between the layers of paper. This art exists only in Japan for many centuries.

You can even eat gold foil. In the food industry, this additive is E175, used to decorate various dishes, such as ice cream.

Now gold foil is valued not only for its artistic value, but also for its high electrical conductivity and resistance to corrosion. And these are important qualities for electrical engineering.

Who Invented Foil? Actually, the aluminum product has a long and controversial history. Its progenitor was tin foil, staniol, which was widely used until the twentieth century in the manufacture of mirrors, in food packaging and in dentistry. But the steel was toxic and had an unpleasant tin smell, so it did not take root in the food industry.

brilliant invention

Who Invented Foil? Interesting Facts talk about this "brilliant" invention. In 1909, a young engineer from Zurich, Robert Victor Neher, was watching an international balloon race and accidentally overheard fans arguing about which aircraft would last the longest in the air. It occurred to Neer that for best result it would be worth covering a silk balloon with a thin layer of aluminum foil.

Unfortunately, the balloon designed by Neher could not fly. But the machine for the production of the thinnest strips of aluminum, that is, foil, had already been built. After several trial and error, not without the help of colleagues (Edwin Laubert and Alfred Moody), Neher still managed to succeed. A patent for the production of aluminum foil was received on October 27, 1910.

Neher and chocolate factories

Confectioners were the first to appreciate the advantages of the new packaging material. Prior to this, chocolate was sold in pieces by weight. Beyond that, opinions differ. Some historians say that the Tobler chocolate factory signed the first contract with Neher for the supply of foil. Others claim that the Nestlé factories came up with the idea of ​​using aluminum foil to protect consumers from melted chocolate. Still others attribute the idea of ​​chocolate wrappers from this material to Franklin Mars, the owner of the Mars factory. The aluminum wrap was the successful innovation of a savvy entrepreneur. In the US, Life Savers were first wrapped in foil in 1913.

So who invented foil? Some claim that Thomas Edison did this so that his favorite sweets would not spoil so quickly.

Later, foil was used to package medicines, cigarettes, oil, coffee, and even juice. At the same time, the first rolls of household foil for packaging anything appeared.

Color matters

So after all, who invented the foil? To this day, this is a controversial issue. It is only known for sure that in 1915 Neher came up with a way to make foil multi-colored. But in 1918 he was drafted into the army, where he died from a Spanish flu on November 27 of the same year. But his idea did not disappear, and in 1933 Konrad Kurz became the discoverer of the cathode deposition method. This method made it possible to deposit the thinnest even layer of gold on an aluminum base. This foil was used for hot stamping. World wars and total economic decline forced manufacturers to change the layer of real gold to a layer of yellow lacquer with a metallized base. This is how modern multi-colored foil appeared. Color variety and cheaper production have expanded the scope of the material.

Other story

The question remains unresolved: who invented the foil? There is another version of its appearance, and it is not associated with balloons, but with the tobacco industry. It often happens that discoveries come to the minds of several people almost simultaneously. Until the early 20th century, cigars and cigarettes were packaged in thin sheets of tin to keep moisture out. Richard Reynolds, who was working at his uncle's tobacco factory at the time, thought of using aluminum, a cheaper and lighter material, instead of tin. He made the first sample of aluminum foil in 1947.

Foil and lotus

On April 16, 2015, German scientists announced the invention of a material to which liquid does not stick, in this case yogurt. new material- this is aluminum foil covered with microscopic cavities in which air collects and prevents liquid from getting inside. Scientists spied this idea on a lotus leaf, which repels water and dirt.

Japanese companies are already ready to put the invention into practice by developing special lids for yogurt.

It happened with the invention of foil - a thin metal film

Do you think this is an immense exaggeration? Now try to imagine that all products and products that require a thin aluminum film to preserve or sell have disappeared. Gone are chocolates and sweets, butter and margarine, tea and coffee, bouillon cubes and medicinal tablets… Continue?

Swiss engineer Robert Victor Neher first managed to roll foil exactly one hundred years ago - in 1910. True, it was not made of aluminum, as is now the case in most cases, but of silver. In those distant years, it was not the same as it is now, but only a little thicker than a human hair. But it could already properly fulfill its duties - to serve as an air- and light-tight package that helps keep food fresh and undamaged. Neher's first client was Tobler, a Bernese company that still wraps its triangular chocolate bars in aluminum foil.

To this day, three-quarters of the production of foil is used for packaging and, of course, for household purposes. However, it is also used in many other industries - from the automotive industry to construction and design. During the Second World War, foil had to come under arms: the Reich industry made special strips from it, which were scattered from aircraft to confuse British radars.

Now aluminum foil at the world's largest production facility, located in the Lower Rhine Grevenbroich, is rolled from huge aluminum castings - eight-meter bars weighing 24 tons. For fans of figures: such a “baby” costs 70 thousand euros. Before the finished film is obtained, he will have to climb through mighty rolls six times, enduring powerful heating in between.

Now the main part of the control over the technological process and compliance with the necessary parameters is entrusted to the computer. But even without human supervision, it is still impossible to do without, it is not for nothing that 1800 people are employed at the enterprise.

It is useless to explain what it is to work in a hot shop: those who have not tried it will still not understand. You have to feel it in your own skin.

Foil from Grevenbroich, in addition to the German market, is also exported to Africa, Asia, South America. Now they transport it around the world on everything they need - from cars to airplanes. And in the 20s of the last century, she left Grevenbroich only by rail. From the enterprise to the goods station, the products were then delivered on carts pulled by donkeys. By the way, the daily production volume then was 150 tons, only half as much as now.

Of course, up to the magical figure of 6.3 micrometers (nine times thinner than a human hair), Grevenbroich could not then roll the foil. However, even now this is not possible for everyone. For example, the Chinese, one of the main competitors of German distributors (however, the production belongs to the now Norwegian concern Noshk Hydro), although they have recently built many similar production facilities, they still cannot reach such quality indicators.

Alexander Varvarin

Aluminum is the most common metal on earth. It has high thermal and electrical conductivity. In alloys, aluminum reaches a strength that is practically not inferior to steel. Light metal is readily used in the aircraft industry and the automotive industry. Thin aluminum sheets, on the other hand, are excellently suited due to their softness; for packaging - and have been used in this capacity since 1947.

Difficulties in mining

The element aluminum occurs naturally in a chemically bonded form. In 1827, the German physicist Friedrich Wöhler managed to obtain significant amounts of pure aluminum. The release process was so difficult that at first this metal remained an expensive rarity. In 1886 the American Charles Hall and the Frenchman Paul Héroux independently invented the electrolytic method of aluminum reduction. The Austrian engineer Karl Josef Bayer, who worked in Russia, in 1889 managed to significantly reduce the cost of new way metal mining.

To the invention - in a roundabout way

The path to aluminum foil lay through the tobacco industry. At the beginning of the XX century. cigarettes were still packaged in tin sheet to protect them from moisture. Richard Reynolds, who at that time joined his uncle's tobacco company, quickly realized that the foil market had a great future, and founded his own enterprise, supplying packaging to tobacconists and chocolate manufacturers. The cheapening of aluminum drew Reynolds' attention to the light metal. In 1947, he succeeded in making a film 0.0175 mm thick. The new foil did not have toxic properties and reliably protected the products from moisture, light or odors.

• 17th century: Staniole, a thin sheet of tin, used to make mirrors.
• 1861: Commercial production of grease and moisture resistant parchment paper begins.
• 1908: Jacques Edwin Brandenberger invents cellophane, a transparent cellulose film.

It starts in the right nostril, then divides into two halves, wraps around the entire head, including the neck, passes through the opening of the beak, and then becomes one again - sounds creepy, doesn't it? But it is precisely this structure of the language of the bird, which has the most long tongue in the world.

Exclusive language

All of us, if not seen, then certainly heard how a woodpecker rhythmically taps on a tree trunk. In an attempt to get food, this bird has to expose a tree trunk, then gouge a hole in the wood, and then use its long tongue, which, due to its unique structure and length, is able to get larvae and insects from the depths.

The thin and sticky tongue of a woodpecker will easily get a treat even from ant passages. Thanks to the nerve endings located on the tongue, the woodpecker does not make mistakes with prey that you have to catch by touch.

In most feathered creatures, the tongue is held on the back of the beak and is located in the oral cavity. In a woodpecker, pay attention to the picture, the tongue begins its growth from the right nostril! At the woodpecker, when he is not engaged in the extraction of food, the tongue is in a folded form. It is located in the nostril and under the skin that protects the skull.

Evolution or intelligent design?

Many remember from school course biology pro natural selection and mutations, during which they continue their life path and development of those individuals who have managed to adapt to the world around them as much as possible. But what advantage does a bird gain if its tongue moves from its usual place to the right nostril, and even begins to grow backwards? Further development events would show that such a bird simply starved to death.

The woodpecker took advantage when its tongue made a full circle around its head, and settled into its usual place in its beak. Despite the fact that the woodpecker has a unique structure of language, evolutionists have no doubt that this bird is descended from other birds with a standard language. But they say that the tongue of a woodpecker is the result of intelligent design.

Woodpecker food

The bird, which has the longest tongue in the world, has the finest hearing. The quietest sound made by insects eating wood will not go unnoticed. Woodpeckers feed on what they find in the bark, under the bark, inside the bark, in the wood.

Some of the woodpeckers hunt not only in wood, anthills and stumps are used to search for food. Some individuals are looking for larvae in the earth's thickness. Typically, a bird's diet consists of bugs, larvae, ants, worms and caterpillars. Northern brothers are not averse to eating nuts.

woodpecker family

Woodpeckers are monogamous, they are faithful to their partner all season long. Birds breed a couple of times a year. Every year, woodpeckers hollow out a new home for themselves; they do not use other people's buildings. Woodpeckers prefer to use trees with soft wood to build a dwelling. It happens that the length of such a dwelling reaches half a meter. Woodpeckers use sawdust as bedding.

woodpeckers in nature

Dyatlov, for active pest control, was nicknamed "forest nurses". They are of obvious help in forests that have stood for years and are full of old trees. But in the young from woodpeckers, harm is more likely than good. The abundance of hollows spoils the structure of a young tree. If the same tree is regularly hollowed out for three or four years, as sucking woodpeckers like to do, then it will die.

In zoos, these birds are rare, but they get used to people quickly enough. We figured out a little with the question of which bird has the longest tongue, it's time to pay attention to other representatives of the vertebrate world.

Bat

In the world of mammals, the recently discovered in Ecuador became the champion in the length of the tongue bat. The length of this organ is 3.5 times the length of the owner's body and is 8.5 cm. It was possible to measure the tongue of this charmer when she was treated to sugared water in a narrow and long test tube.

Australian echidna

An egg-laying mammal has an elongated nose. At the end of which both the nose and mouth are placed, inside there is a very thin and long tongue. If the animal sticks out its tongue, then we will see 18 centimeters of a tongue covered with a sticky liquid.

Chameleons

This lizard's tongue reaches half a meter. The length of this organ depends on the size of the chameleon, the larger the animal, the longer its tongue. This representative of the squamous order straightens his tongue for hundredths of a second - an elusive movement can only be seen with the help of slow motion.

Ant-eater

Anteater is a toothless animal, although with a 60 cm sticky tongue, no teeth are needed. Ants and termites are eaten. In one minute, an anteater can stick out and retract the tongue more than one and a half hundred times.

Giraffe

The tallest mammal on Earth sometimes lacks its own height. The animal compensates for this shortcoming with its long tongue. With the help of a 45-centimeter tongue, the animal obtains its livelihood, consisting of the leaves of trees and shrubs.