itself vertically into the air. Crickets In crickets (Acheta domesticus) ballistic movements can be seen in the way they jump. The kicks that propel the cricket occur over a period of only 2-6ms, but during the 18-40ms prior to the kick the potential energy required is built up by the co-contraction of the antagonistic extensor and flexor tibiae. The crickets can also use these same ballistic movements for swimming. Cone snail In the cone snail (Conus catus) ballistic movement can be seen in the way that it fires is harpoon-like radular tooth into its prey. After the cone snail’s proboscis comes in contact with its prey the tooth is ejected 240-295 ms later. It is believed that the propulsion of the tooth is accomplished by pressurizing the fluid space behind the tooth. Salamanders, toads, and chameleons In Salamanders, Toads, and Chameleons ballistic movement can be seen in their tongue projection which is controlled by an elastic recoil mechanism. The orientation of the muscle fibers is significant because it is what allows ballistic movements to be possible. In chameleons, the muscle fibers used for ballistic tongue movements were found to be in a spiral orientation, with an equal amount of fibers oriented clockwise and anti-clockwise to prevent torsional movement of the tongue during projection. The internal fiber angles are approximately 45 degrees, which is the theoretical optimum to create an equal strain throughout the accelerator muscles. In salamanders of the genus Hydromantes, the pattern of muscle activation has been mapped. The main muscles used for ballistic tongue movements in these salamanders are the subarcualis rectus (SAR) muscles. These SAR muscles can be further divided into anterior (SARA) and posterior (SARP). The first muscle to be activated is the SARA, which is located near the back of the head. The SARA remains active until the tongue makes contact with the prey. Next, the posterior SARP, located further back on the medial and lateral sides of the salamander is activated. Then the middle SARP is activated and the anterior SARP is the last to be activated. The time between activation shortens and duration of activation increases with increasing prey distance. Ballistic tongues have evolved two times previously in the Hemidactyliini and Bolitoglossini genera. The exact mechanisms of tongue projection vary slightly throughout the taxa, but the resulting projections have remained relatively constant. Frogs do not have a specialized muscular structure for tongue projection.