Beak holds fish: puffin

1 of 2 Atlantic puffin with food / Darragh Sher.. / License

The beak of a puffin can carry many fish at once because the bird uses its tongue to hold the fish against serrations on the upper mandible.

Biomimicry Taxonomy

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Biomimetic Application Ideas

Adding texture to slippery objects to reduce breakage, business metaphor for how encouraging a slight modification or innovation could enhance productivity and set the business apart from one-fish competitors.

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[Collapse all sections] Summary

"These puffins sport beaks that look as if they have been painted for a carnival…It is able to carry as many as 20 fish in its beak by holding them with its tongue against the serrated upper mandible." (Foy and Oxford Scientific Films 1982:150)

About the inspiring organism

Atlantic Puffin
Fratercula arctica (Linnaeus, 1758)
[Atlantic puffin]

IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern
Habitat(s): Grassland, Marine Coastal/Supratidal, Marine Intertidal, Marine Neritic, Marine Oceanic, Rocky Areas

Some organism data provided by: ITIS: The Integrated Taxonomic Information System
Organism/taxonomy data provided by:
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist

Bioinspired products and application ideas

Application Ideas: Adding texture to slippery objects to reduce breakage, business metaphor for how encouraging a slight modification or innovation could enhance productivity and set the business apart from one-fish competitors.

Industrial Sector(s) interested in this strategy: Design, business

References

Foy, Sally; Oxford Scientific Films. 1982. The Grand Design: Form and Colour in Animals. Lingfield, Surrey, U.K.: BLA Publishing Limited for J.M.Dent & Sons Ltd, Aldine House, London. 238 p.

Beak holds fish: puffin

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