Which animal has the longest tongue? The longest tongue in animals

A long tongue in animals does not mean that animals talk a lot, since this is only characteristic of humans. The long tongue serves living beings for other purposes. If we talk about the main task of the tongue, then it is chewing and swallowing food, but some animals use the tongue for other purposes. The longest tongues of animals - TOP 10 - look!

The longest tongues of animals - TOP 10

For example, cats use their tongue as a comb to clean their fur. Also, the rough tongue allows them to easily remove meat from the bones of the victim.

Dogs use their tongue to regulate their body temperature. For example, on a hot day it acts as an air conditioner, helping the dog cool down. In short, every living creature uses language in its own way.

In this article we will talk about those creatures that have an incredibly long tongue that helps them get their food.

The longest tongues of animals - Bat

Tenth place goes to the bat. This mammal has one of the longest tongues of any mammal. The length of the tongue is 8.5 centimeters, which means that the tongue of the bat is almost 3.5 longer than the body of this nocturnal animal. The bat needs such a long tongue so that it can easily extract the necessary nectar from the flower. The most interesting thing is that only bats can extract nectar from this flower, and all thanks to its long tongue.

The longest tongues of animals - Woodpecker

If someone knocks loudly in the forest, it means it is a woodpecker. The woodpecker knocks on trees to find food, and then to get it, he needs a long and rough tongue. The length of a woodpecker's tongue can exceed 10 centimeters, so it can easily reach its prey. At the tip of the woodpecker's tongue there is a special hook that allows the bird to catch various larvae and then pull them into oral cavity.

Woodpeckers are also known to eat ants and termites, and can even eat tree seeds in winter. Another feature of the woodpecker's tongue is that the tongue extends outward in the form of a kind of ribbon attached to the woodpecker's nostril.

Australian echidna

The longest tongues of animals - Australian echidna

This funny mammal is an oviparous animal. The echidna has an elongated tube-shaped nose, and at its end there is both a nose and a mouth, which is, in principle, characteristic of all mammals. The main difference is a very narrow oral cavity and an incredibly long tongue.

This is not the end of the peculiarities of the Australian echidna’s language. The tongue of this creature is covered with a certain liquid that is produced salivary glands animal. Thanks to this mucus, the echidna can easily capture insects. The echidna is able to extend its tongue up to 18 centimeters, although its actual length is much longer.

The longest tongues of animals - Snake

Everyone knows that snakes have long tongues. These reptiles have a very long body, so it is not surprising that the tongue is too. Snakes need their tongue not only to capture food, but also to receive information that surrounds them. When a snake sees something new, it begins to move its tongue, thereby collecting information with it, but people often mistake this gesture for the snake's aggression and desire to attack.

Snakes are creatures that are in constant movement and search. Any information received by the tongue must be processed in order to detect its prey or neutralize the enemy in time. The length of the snake's tongue reaches 25 centimeters.

The longest tongues of animals - Cow

Cows have a very long, wide and also rough tongue. It can reach 45 centimeters in length! In younger individuals it is slightly shorter; the length also depends on the breed of the cow. Thanks to the long tongue, cows can easily grab plant food, which the cow mows down with the incisors located on the lower jaw.

The longest tongues of animals - Giraffe

The tallest animal living on land. And, nevertheless, giraffes still lack such height, so a long tongue comes to the rescue. The giraffe's tongue is not only very long (about 45 centimeters), but also incredibly mobile, so you should be careful when feeding this exotic animal.

The giraffe's long tongue helps it tear leaves from bushes and trees. In addition, the giraffe should not be afraid that it may scratch its tongue or lips on the thorns, since both its tongue and lips are designed in such a way that they cannot be scratched. Interestingly, the giraffe has a black tongue.

Chameleon

The longest tongues in animals - Chameleon

This funny little animal couldn't help but get into this rating. Of all the lizards, it is difficult to find a more amusing and unusual creature than the chameleon. His constantly changing color, eyes, each of which lives its own life, a long tail, and, of course, the unusual language is what made this animal so famous. Typically, the length of the tongue corresponds to the length of the chameleon's body, so the longer the chameleon, the longer its tongue.

The saddest thing is that it is almost impossible to see the chameleon’s tongue. To do this requires fast motion, because throwing out the tongue and returning it to the starting point takes less than a second. It takes a chameleon less than 3 minutes to catch 4 insects.

Ant-eater

The longest tongues in animals - Anteater

Anteaters are known to have no teeth, but they don't actually need them. The main prey of anteaters are ants and termites.

If they don’t need teeth to grind food, then a long and sticky tongue is simply necessary. Thanks to their tongue, they easily catch their victims. The giant anteater's tongue can reach 60 centimeters in length.

Komodo dragon

The longest tongues in animals - Komodo dragon

The largest lizard is the Komodo dragon. The giant lizard has not only impressive size, but also a very long tongue. Some even call the Komodo dragon a “land crocodile.” Monitor lizards grow up to 3 meters in length, but the length of their tongue is equal to 70 centimeters. Average weight Komodo dragon – 70 kilograms.

You should not treat this lizard as a cute and funny reptile, since in fact it is capable of killing even a large buffalo. In order to catch such a large victim, the monitor lizard only needs to inflict a wound on the victim and wait until it falls dead. The fact is that a lizard's saliva contains many bacteria, which, when released into the blood of another creature, instantly cause blood poisoning.

Blue whale

The longest tongues in animals - Blue whale

First place goes to the blue whale. The blue whale is the largest creature currently known to mankind. In addition, the whale is also the owner of the longest tongue.

The three-meter tongue of this giant is usually measured in width rather than in length, since it is a healthy piston, the main task of which is to filter the keel that enters the whale’s body from a ton of water.

My tongue is my friend! So you can paraphrase the famous phrase if you apply it to the size and usefulness of the tongue in animals, and at the same time find out who has the longest one. Our people are curious and love to look for answers to such tricky questions: who has the longest tail, fur, beak, nose, etc. So who has the most useful and longest tongue?

A beautiful large animal roams the South American pampas. He has a fluffy tail, a long muzzle, powerful paws, and four toes on his front ones. On the second and third there are terrible claws up to 12 cm long. But the beast doesn’t gut anyone with them; it practically doesn’t even have teeth. And the name of the beast is the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla). He needs powerful claws to reach a termite mound with strong walls or an anthill, destroy it and eat insects to his heart's content.

Here a dexterous and long (up to half a meter) tongue covered in sticky saliva comes to the rescue. Having stuck to the tongue, the prey enters the mouth with a special “grater” that cleans off ants and termites. And then, unchewed, they go straight into the stomach, where they are ground with the help of small pebbles by the muscular walls that work like millstones. How many termites and ants can you eat this way? Up to 30 thousand insects per day! And yet, the anteater is not the owner of the longest tongue, judging by its size.

Now tell me, what do the anteater and the spotted woodpecker have in common, flying from tree to tree with a sharp cry in search of prey? Here he is jumping along the trunk, grasping tightly with his tenacious claws. So he rested his tail for stability and began tapping his beak: are there any passages with bark beetles and wood borers? Found! Now the woodpecker knocked more insistently, trying to get to the food. But the bugs are not fools; they go deeper into the trunk. What to do? Same as for the anteater! Use a long sticky tongue, run it into the crack and pull the stuck prey into the beak. And what is the language of our bird? Yes, almost the same length as the woodpecker himself! Does the woodpecker have the longest tongue? Again - no.

Who else hunts in a similar way? Chameleon lizard. A chameleon's tongue is one and a half times longer than its body. The longest tongue in animals has been found! Sticky mucus is located on the tip of the tongue, which the chameleon can use to hold not only large insects, but also small lizards and even birds. Many animals benefit from their sticky and long tongue. The most common toads, gray and green, also use a sticky “shooting” tongue to catch insects.

You can also wipe dust and debris from your eyes with your tongue, as some geckos do. The tongue can serve as a bait, like that of the snapping turtle. When hunting, it lies down on the bottom and sticks out its tongue, very similar to a worm. All that remains is to be patient until the fish itself swims into the turtle’s mouth. The tongue can be a “pump” for extracting nectar from a flower, like in hummingbirds and honey suckers. With a long and dexterous tongue you can pluck leaves from thorny and tall branches. This is exactly what a giraffe does. And how nice it is to watch how he licks his kittens! Here's a brush, a grater, and a washcloth! There are many amazing language constructions, all languages ​​amaze with their diversity and practicality. It remains only to note that the largest tongue (weighing up to 6 tons) is that of the blue whale, and the smallest is that of the three-gram pygmy shrew, which itself is the smallest mouse on earth.

The main auxiliary function of the tongue is chewing and swallowing food, but living beings do not find any use for the tongue. The cat family, for example, uses the tongue as a kind of comb with which they clean the fur, removing fallen hairs from it. In addition, with such a tongue it is easy to scrape meat from the bones of its prey.

Representatives of the canine family use their tongue to regulate body temperature, using it as an air conditioner that helps cool down on a hot day. The tongue of such animals is the only part of the body that is capable of evaporating moisture. But there are also representatives of the animal world who use their tongue to obtain food. They have the longest tongue among all animals.

Bat

Scientists have been able to establish that the owner of the longest tongue among mammals is bat(lat. Anoura fistulata). The length of her tongue is 8.5 cm, which is 3.5 times the length of her own body. A mouse needs such a long tongue to extract nectar from a flower. Centropogon nigricans. And what’s interesting is that only these bats have adapted to extract nectar from this plant.

Woodpecker

We are already accustomed to hearing the sound of a woodpecker in the forest (lat. Picidae) - this is how this bird gets its food from under the bark of trees. But how does he get it? Answer: with the help of a long (about 10 cm) and rough tongue, which is located in the woodpecker in a special cavity of the skull. At the tip of the bird's tongue there is a horny hook, with the help of which it picks up hiding larvae and pulls them into the mouth.

Woodpeckers can often feed on ants and termites, and in winter period can eat tree seeds. It is worth noting that the woodpecker’s tongue extends outward with the help of a special tape that goes around the internal cavity of the skull and is attached to the bird’s nostril.

Australian echidna

Australian (lat. Tachyglossus aculeatus) is an oviparous mammal with an elongated tubular nose, at the end of which there is a nose and a mouth, in fact, like all representatives of the animal world. But the oral cavity of this animal is narrow, and the tongue is very thin and long.

In addition, the tongue is covered with a special liquid that is produced salivary glands echidna and helps capture insects. The animal's tongue protrudes outward by 18 centimeters, and this despite the fact that part of it still remains in the mouth.

Snakes

Snakes (lat. Serpentes) are unique reptiles with both a long body and a long tongue (up to 25 cm). With the help of their unusual forked tongue, snakes easily read information about everything that surrounds them.

The snake's tongue is in constant motion. Thus, it selects particles of water, soil and air, analyzing the information received, which allows it to detect prey or a potential enemy.

Cows

Cows (lat. Bos taurus taurus) are mammals with a rather wide, rough and long tongue (up to 30-45 cm). The length of the tongue depends primarily on the age and breed of the animal itself. Cows need such a tongue to grasp grassy vegetation, which it mows down with incisors located on the lower jaw.

Giraffe

(lat. Giraffa camelopardalis) is the tallest of all mammals living on Earth. It is not surprising, but the giraffe sometimes lacks its height, so it quite often resorts to the help of its long tongue (45 cm). In addition to the fact that the giraffe's tongue is long, it is also very agile.

With its help, the animal easily removes foliage from trees and bushes. It is interesting that the lips and tongue of a giraffe are designed in such a way that they are not damaged at all, either by thorns or tree branches.

Chameleons

Chameleons (lat. Chamaeleonidae) - the most unusual lizards from the order Squamate. One of the most basic features of a chameleon is its tongue, the length of which can reach about 50 cm. Usually the length of this organ corresponds to the length of its owner, therefore, the larger the lizard itself, the longer its tongue.

But it’s possible to see the chameleon’s tongue in all its glory only after accelerated shooting. The entire hunting process (throwing out the tongue and returning it to its original position) lasts about 1/20 of a second. It is interesting that a chameleon is able to recognize and then catch up to 4 insects in 3 seconds.

Ant-eater

Anteaters (lat. Myrmecophagidae) lack teeth, but they don’t need them, since they feed on anteaters small insects such as ants and termites.

But they definitely can’t do without their sticky and long tongue. For example, at (lat. Myrmecophaga tridactyla) the tongue can reach up to 60 centimeters in length. The frequency of movement of the anteater's tongue is about 160 (!) times per minute.

Komodo dragon or Komodo dragon

Komodo dragon or (lat. Varanus komodoensis) is the largest lizard in the world. It is also called the "land crocodile". The lizard itself grows up to 3 meters in length, and its tongue – up to 70 cm. Komodo dragons weigh about 70 kg.

This is a large and powerful animal that can kill even a buffalo. To do this, they should only inflict a wound on their victim, and then just chase her and wait until she falls dead. The fact is that the monitor lizard’s saliva contains many bacteria, which, when they get into the victim’s wound, cause blood poisoning.

Blue whale

Blue or blue whale (lat. Balaenoptera musculus) - among all living creatures living on our Earth. In addition, he received the title “owner of the largest and longest language in the world.”

Only the 3-meter tongue of the blue whale is usually measured not in length, but in width, since it is a huge piston that serves to filter the krill that enters the whale’s mouth along with tons of sea water.

So it turns out that the language of each animal species is adapted to its habitat and method of obtaining food. It is of great importance to each of them. Without language, the animal would simply die.

The main auxiliary function of the tongue is chewing and swallowing food, but living beings do not find any use for the tongue. The cat family, for example, uses the tongue as a kind of comb with which they clean the fur, removing fallen hairs from it. In addition, with such a tongue it is easy to scrape meat from the bones of its prey.

Representatives of the canine family use their tongue to regulate body temperature, using it as an air conditioner that helps cool down on a hot day. The tongue of such animals is the only part of the body that is capable of evaporating moisture. But there are also representatives of the animal world who use their tongue to obtain food. They have the longest tongue among all animals.

Bat

Scientists have been able to establish that the owner of the longest tongue among mammals is the bat (lat. Anoura fistulata). The length of her tongue is 8.5 cm, which is 3.5 times the length of her own body. This long tongue is necessary for the mouse to extract nectar from the Centropogon nigricans flower. And what’s interesting is that only these bats have adapted to extract nectar from this plant.

Woodpecker

We are already accustomed to hearing the sound of a woodpecker (lat. Picidae) in the forest - this is how this bird gets its food from under the bark of trees. But how does he get it? Answer: with the help of a long (about 10 cm) and rough tongue, which is located in the woodpecker in a special cavity of the skull. At the tip of the bird's tongue there is a horny hook, with the help of which it picks up hiding larvae and pulls them into the mouth.


Woodpeckers can often feed on ants and termites, and in winter they can eat tree seeds. It is worth noting that the woodpecker’s tongue extends outward with the help of a special tape that goes around the internal cavity of the skull and is attached to the bird’s nostril.

Australian echidna

The Australian echidna (lat. Tachyglossus aculeatus) is an oviparous mammal with an elongated tubular nose, at the end of which the nose and mouth are located, in fact, like all representatives of the animal world. But the oral cavity of this animal is narrow, and the tongue is very thin and long.


In addition, the tongue is covered with a special liquid, which is produced by the salivary glands of the echidna and helps to capture insects. The animal's tongue protrudes outward by 18 centimeters, and this despite the fact that part of it still remains in the mouth.

Snakes

Snakes (lat. Serpentes) are unique reptiles with both a long body and a long tongue (up to 25 cm). With the help of their unusual forked tongue, snakes easily read information about everything that surrounds them.


The snake's tongue is in constant motion. Thus, it selects particles of water, soil and air, analyzing the information received, which allows it to detect prey or a potential enemy.

Cows

Cows (lat. Bos taurus taurus) are mammals with a rather wide, rough and long tongue (up to 30-45 cm). The length of the tongue depends primarily on the age and breed of the animal itself. Cows need such a tongue to grasp grassy vegetation, which it mows down with incisors located on the lower jaw.

Giraffe

The giraffe (lat. Giraffa camelopardalis) is the tallest of all mammals living on Earth. It is not surprising, but the giraffe sometimes lacks its height, so it quite often resorts to the help of its long tongue (45 cm). In addition to the fact that the giraffe's tongue is long, it is also very agile.


With its help, the animal easily removes foliage from trees and bushes. It is interesting that the lips and tongue of a giraffe are designed in such a way that they are not damaged at all, either by thorns or tree branches.

Chameleons

Chameleons (lat. Chamaeleonidae) are the most unusual lizards from the order Scaly. One of the most basic features of a chameleon is its tongue, the length of which can reach about 50 cm. Usually the length of this organ corresponds to the length of its owner, therefore, the larger the lizard itself, the longer its tongue.


But it’s possible to see the chameleon’s tongue in all its glory only after accelerated shooting. The entire hunting process (throwing out the tongue and returning it to its original position) lasts about 1/20 of a second. It is interesting that a chameleon is able to recognize and then catch up to 4 insects in 3 seconds.

Ant-eater

Anteaters (lat. Myrmecophagidae) lack teeth, but they do not need them, since anteaters feed on small insects such as ants and termites.


But they definitely can’t do without their sticky and long tongue. For example, the tongue of a giant anteater (lat. Myrmecophaga tridactyla) can reach up to 60 centimeters in length. The frequency of movement of the anteater's tongue is about 160 (!) times per minute.

Komodo dragon or Komodo dragon

The Komodo dragon or Komodo dragon (lat. Varanus komodoensis) is the largest lizard in the world. It is also called the "land crocodile". The lizard itself grows up to 3 meters in length, and its tongue – up to 70 cm. Komodo dragons weigh about 70 kg.


This is a large and powerful animal that can kill even a buffalo. To do this, they should only inflict a wound on their victim, and then just chase her and wait until she falls dead. The fact is that the monitor lizard’s saliva contains many bacteria, which, when they get into the victim’s wound, cause blood poisoning.

Blue whale

The blue or blue whale (lat. Balaenoptera musculus) is the largest among all living creatures living on our Earth. In addition, he received the title “owner of the largest and longest language in the world.”


Only the 3-meter tongue of the blue whale is usually measured not in length, but in width, since it is a huge piston that serves to filter the krill that enters the whale’s mouth along with tons of sea water.

So it turns out that the language of each animal species is adapted to its habitat and method of obtaining food. It is of great importance to each of them. Without language, the animal would simply die.

The tongue of each animal species has its own special structure and a certain length. It is very important for animals, and without it they will simply die.

Bat

The bat (Anoura fistulata) has a tongue 8.5 cm long, which would seem to be not enough. However, if you compare the length of the tongue and the body length of this animal, which is 5-6 cm, it turns out that it is not so little. Such a tongue does not fit in the oral cavity of animals, so a special place is reserved for it in chest. These bats need such a long tongue to obtain nectar from the Centropogon nigricans flower, which they feed on. It is interesting that only these animals are able to get nectar from the eight-centimeter corolla of this flower.

Woodpeckers

For many people, woodpeckers knock on wood and extract larvae from it. Partly yes, but how do they get food? Answer: a very long tongue with a unique structure! To get the larva, woodpeckers drill a hole in the bark, stick their tongue, up to 10 cm long, into it, hook the larvae with horny hooks located on the tip of the tongue and drag them into the mouth. It is also interesting that the birds' tongue is extended using a special tape that goes around the woodpecker's skull and is attached to the nostril.

Echidna

The echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) has an elongated tubular nose. At its end are the nostrils and mouth, like all animals. But the echidna’s oral cavity is very narrow, and its tongue is long and thin. In addition, it is covered with a special liquid produced by the salivary glands, which helps collect insects. The echidna's tongue can protrude 18 cm from its mouth, and how much more remains in the mouth...

Snakes

Snakes have unique tongues, up to 25 cm long. The snake’s tongue, like a scanner, reads information about environment, barely sticking out of the oral cavity, and upon returning, transmits information to the brain through sensitive pits located on the inner surface of the mouth.

Cows

Cows have a very wide and long tongue (about 30-45 cm). Its length depends primarily on the breed of the animal and its age. Cows use their tongues to grasp. They wrap it around tufts of grass or branches and carry them into the oral cavity for chewing. This is about the same as a person taking a bunch of grass with the palm of his hand with closed fingers.

Giraffe

Oddly enough, such a tall animal as a giraffe sometimes does not have enough height to reach the leaves. At such moments, the animal’s tongue helps. The giraffe's tongue is not only long (45 cm), but also dexterous. With its help, a giraffe can easily pluck leaves from thorny trees or bushes, as well as nibble grass.

Chameleon

A chameleon has one of the longest tongues - about 50 cm. As a rule, the length of a chameleon's tongue is equal to the length of its owner's body, therefore, the larger the individual, the longer its tongue. But you can only see it in slow motion, since the chameleon throws out its tongue for only 0.05 seconds. A well-aimed “shot” with the tongue provides the animal with food.

Ant-eater

The anteater has no teeth, but is endowed with a very long, sticky and thread-thin tongue, which helps it obtain food - termites and ants. An anteater's tongue can reach as much as 60 cm in length. The animal launches it into the anthill and then puts it back into its mouth, performing these actions with a frequency of approximately 160 times per minute. Thus, many ants end up in the anteater's mouth.

Komodo dragon

The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is the largest lizard in the world. The length of this reptile can be more than 3 m, and its tongue is correspondingly 70 cm long. Monitor lizards are predators, and they also use poison. Having bitten the victim, they inject poison into the blood, and then chase the victim (up to several days), waiting until it falls under the influence of the poison.

Blue whale

The owner of the longest and at the same time the largest tongue in the world is the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). Its tongue can reach the length of an entire monitor lizard or shark, that is, three meters. The whale's tongue has one sole purpose - to participate in filtering krill that enters the oral cavity of these giants along with water.

Absolutely everything in appearance and internal structure animals are adapted to the conditions of their environment and the food that the animals consume. And language is no exception.