Back to Show
Deep Look
Why Does Your Cat's Tongue Feel Like Sandpaper?
Season 4
Episode 5
It's not vanity. For cats, staying clean is a matter of life and death. And their tongue, specially equipped for the job, is just one of the things that makes cats such successful predators.
Sign up now for inspiring and thought-provoking media delivered straight to your inbox.
Support Provided By

4:32
Burying beetles haul mouse carcasses into the dirt and prep them to start a family.

3:47
Wandering salamanders can skydive in the branches of the tallest trees in the world.

4:45
The petroleum fly and their larvae thrive in the natural asphalt at the La Brea Tar Pits.

5:15
Six-rayed sea stars make great moms, caressing and protecting their babies for months!

4:12
House flies deploy a specialized organ called the ptilinum to break out of their pupa!

6:15
Stingless bees don’t have stingers. So, how do they keep honey thieves away?

5:16
After cochineals die, their legacy lives on in the brilliant red hue produced by their hemolymph!

3:44
Those rows of orange cluster under a fern leaf are spores waiting to be catapulted away.

5:16
These tiny marine flatworms are smaller than a grain of rice but have amazing abilities!

3:57
Sharpshooters have super-propulsive urine using a catapult in their butt.

4:36
Corals create an underwater "snowstorm" by sending tiny white spheres up the water column.

3:58
Ever wonder how those tiny, jumpy flies got onto your bathroom wall?