page_title: Tongue
section_title: Other animals
hierarchical_section_title: Tongue / Other animals
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch&#x3a;&#32; Taubenschwänzchen - Für die Zunge verlängert. das inspirierte den Namen des Tieres. Buchstäblich die lange Zunge.English&#x3a;&#32; Hummingbird Hawk-moth - View of the proboscis extended, which inspired the name of the animal. Literally the long tongue.Français&#x202f;&#x3a;&#32; Moro sphinx - Vue de la trompe déroulée, qui a inspirée le nom de l'animal. Littéralement la longue langue.
context_page_description: The tongue is a muscular organ in the mouth of most vertebrates that manipulates food for mastication and is used in the act of swallowing. It has importance in the digestive system and is the primary organ of taste in the gustatory system. The tongue's upper surface is covered by taste buds housed in numerous lingual papillae. It is sensitive and kept moist by saliva and is richly supplied with nerves and blood vessels. The tongue also serves as a natural means of cleaning the teeth. A major function of the tongue is the enabling of speech in humans and vocalization in other animals.
  The human tongue is divided into two parts, an oral part at the front and a pharyngeal part at the back. The left and right sides are also separated along most of its length by a vertical section of fibrous tissue that results in a groove, the median sulcus, on the tongue's surface.
  There are two groups of muscles of the tongue. The four intrinsic muscles alter the shape of the tongue and are not attached to bone. The four paired extrinsic muscles change the position of the tongue and are anchored to bone.
context_section_description: The muscles of the tongue evolved in amphibians from occipital somites. Most amphibians show a proper tongue after their metamorphosis. As a consequence most vertebrate animals—amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals—have tongues. In mammals such as dogs and cats, the tongue is often used to clean the fur and body by licking. The tongues of these species have a very rough texture which allows them to remove oils and parasites. Some dogs have a tendency to consistently lick a part of their foreleg which can result in a skin condition known as a lick granuloma. A dog's tongue also acts as a heat regulator. As a dog increases its exercise the tongue will increase in size due to greater blood flow. The tongue hangs out of the dog's mouth and the moisture on the tongue will work to cool the bloodflow.
  Some animals have tongues that are specially adapted for catching prey. For example, chameleons, frogs, pangolins and anteaters have prehensile tongues.
  Other animals may have organs that are analogous to tongues, such as a butterfly's proboscis or a radula on a mollusc, but these are not homologous with the tongues found in vertebrates and often have little resemblance in function. For example, butterflies do not lick with their proboscides; they suck through them, and the proboscis is not a single organ, but two jaws held together to form a tube. Many species of fish have small folds at the base of their mouths that might informally be called tongues, but they lack a muscular structure like the true tongues found in most tetrapods.
caption: Extended proboscis of a long tongued Macroglossum moth
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