What are the origins of this fun-filled festive custom?
But instead, hummingbirds' tongues act as elastic micropumps. This means that they manipulate their tongues in way that produces elastic energy that can draw the flower nectar.
It was previously thought that these birds pulled up flower nectar through their tongues using capillary action, i.e. fluids would flow through narrow channels, even against gravity.
The tip of their tongues is essentially a ball of muscle. That ball turns into a suction cup when it hits its prey, which is then crushed by the chameleon's mouth.
Its fast spaghetti-like tongue has spines and sticky saliva, which help grab its food and drag it straight to the sternum, where the tongue attaches.
A 23.5-inch (about 60 cm) tongue allows a giant anteater to feast on up to 30,000 ants and termites a day!
Flies' hairy appendage is not actually a tongue. It's called the labellum. It acts like a straw and is used by flies to slurp up food.
Sources: (Live Science)
See also: The most poisonous animals on the planet
Chameleons are known for both their ability to change color and their fast, 20-inch-long (50 cm) tongues, which they use to catch insects.
These birds must have pretty amazing tongues. After all, they can mimic human speech, right? They do so by adjusting their tongue so that it modulates the sound coming from their voice box.
These reptiles, native to Australia and New Guinea, use their blue tongue to scare off predators. Who wouldn't be afraid of a blue tongue, right?
These prehistoric-looking creatures use their tongues as fishing lure. Alligator snapping turtles stand still with their mouths open and wait to ambush fish that believe their tongues are actually worms.
A research engineer at Georgia Tech Research Institute explains the animals' unique anatomy: "Unlike humans, frog tongues are connected at the front of the lower jaw, rather than at the back of the throat."
Eagles' tongues have a peculiar feature called rear-directed papillae, which are essentially barbs pointing backwards that help them swallow food.
Frogs are famous for their lightning-fast tongues. But not only are their tongues fast, they are also very strong, being able to pull objects about 1.4 times the frog's body weight!
Like other birds, eagles also use their tongues to feed their young. The tongue is used to help filter anything that can choke the chicks, such as bones, fur, or sharp fins.
These geckos' defense mechanisms include opening their mouths, flashing their (very red) tongue, and then making a distress call that sounds like a child's scream!
Just like other cats, lions also use their tongues to groom fur. Lions' sharp tongues have spines that help deliver saliva to their fur.
Another unique feature in penguins' tongues is that they don't have taste buds. That's probably why they swallow their food whole!
Penguins' tongues have bristles made out of keratin, which helps them grab wriggly and slippery prey, like fish.
Like some other meat-eating mammals, lions don't have a taste for sweetness. Their tongues have a disabled gene that causes loss of taste.
Sun bears have really long tongues, which can measure up to 10 inches (25 cm).
These birds' long tongues are made of muscle, bone and cartilage, which the birds "stores" by wrapping it around their skulls when not in use.
"The cordlike base of the tongue extends back out of their mouth on each side, winding behind and onto the top of their head, sometimes extending so far forward that it reaches the nostril," explains Larry Witmer, professor of anatomy and paleontology at Ohio University.
They use their long tongues to extract honey from beehives. This is why sun bears are also known as honey bears.
Giraffes' 21-inch-long (53 cm) tongues are dark, with hues of purple, blue, and black.
This is because they contain melanin, which acts as a sort of sunblock as the animals stick their tongues out to reach for leaves.
Not only are pangolins the only mammals with scales, their tongues are also unique. Their tongues can measure up to 16 inches (40 cm), which is longer than the animal's body length! Another unique feature is that their tongue is connected to the rib cage instead of the mouth.
The Gila monster's forked tongue is believed to help detect odors. It's used to pick up chemical gradients in the air, allowing the animal to smell potential prey or detect danger.
Hippos' tongues have mixed morphological features that can be found in different types of animals, including odd-toed ungulates, ruminants, and omnivorous, non-ruminant mammals.
Owners of one of the most impressive mustaches in the animal kingdom, these primates are also known for flicking their tongues in and out of their mouths to communicate. Together with chirps, whistles, and facial expressions, they flick their tongues as a form of body language.
The tongue is an amazing organ, and some animals do have extraordinary features that you might not know about. More than a sensory organ, the tongue is also used by some species to catch prey, make sound, and communicate. And there's more–much more!
Browse through the following gallery and discover amazing fact about animal tongues.
Extraordinary animal tongues with surprising features
The most amazing tongues in the animal kingdom
LIFESTYLE Animal kingdom
The tongue is an amazing organ, and some animals do have extraordinary features that you might not know about. More than a sensory organ, the tongue is also used by some species to catch prey, make sound, and communicate. And there's more–much more!
Browse through the following gallery and discover amazing fact about animal tongues.