For some animals, the tongue is an amazing organ and has special features that we may not know. More than just a sense organ, the tongue is also used by some species to capture prey, make sounds, communicate, and more. Let's take a look at the list of animals with the longest tongue with Toplist!
1 Bat sucking nectar
The honey-sucking bat is one of the bat species famous for its long tongue. Its long tongue when retracted is hidden in the ribcage. In fact, with a tongue almost twice the length of its body, there is no animal in the wild that "displaces the champion" in the ratio of tongue length to the body of this honey-sucking bat.
A nectar-sucking tubular bat, known as Anoura fistulata, has the longest tongue of any mammal on the planet. The tongue of this strange animal is about 8.5 cm long, 1.5 times the length of the body. According to Iflscience, this particular species of bat broke the record for the first bat species in Ecuador from the previous decade.
Now, according to the announcement of the Wildlife Conservation Society, for the first time, a strange bat like this has been found in Bolivia's Madidi National Park. The unusual tongue of this bat allows them to easily suck the nectar from the ends of a funnel-shaped flower. This is also an efficient way to pollinate this elongated flower.
In fact, with a tongue almost twice the length of its body, there is no animal in the wild that "displaces the champion" in the ratio of tongue length to the body of this honey-sucking bat.
2 Pangolins
Pangolins have a tongue up to 40cm long with a lot of very sticky drool to easily catch prey. The base of its tongue is located deep in the abdomen. This animal has no hair, only hard scales covering the whole body and also has no teeth. The food of pangolins is mainly ants and termites.
British naturalist David Attenborough chose the Sunda pangolin (a pangolin distributed throughout Southeast Asia) as one of the 10 animals he most wanted to save from extinction. So what makes pangolins so special? Here are facts to help us understand more about one of the most endangered species on Earth.
There are currently about eight species of pangolin in the world, and some have become extinct in the course of evolution over the past 80 million years. Four of them live in Asia: China, Malaysia, India and the island of Palawan (Philippines), while the remaining four species are distributed in Africa.
When fully extended, the pangolin's tongue can be up to 40cm long and the base of the tongue lies deep into the chest cavity. Pangolins use their sticky tongue to catch insects. Because pangolins have no teeth, they crush and digest food thanks to the stones in their stomachs.
The scales of the pangolin are made up of keratin, similar to human fingernails, rhinoceros horns or birds' nails... The horn scales make up 20% of the weight of this animal. Very hard scales can protect pangolins from predators. However, in traditional Chinese medicine, pangolin scales are dried and baked in the belief that they can cure polio, stimulate lactation in women... For that reason, the price of pangolins. Pangolin scales on the black market amount to more than 3,000 USD/kg.
3 Bears eat ants
The ant-eating bear has a body length of 150cm but has a tongue up to 60cm long. True to its name, the ant-eating bear, this bear eats ants, termites, and its long, sticky tongue with small spines is an extremely effective "tool" in catching prey. With a tongue launch and tongue retraction speed of up to 150 times per minute, the anteater can catch up to 30,000 termites per day.
The ant-eating bear has a body length of 150cm but has a tongue up to 60cm long. True to its name, the ant-eating bear, this bear eats ants, termites, and its long, sticky tongue with small spines is an extremely effective "tool" in catching prey. With a tongue launch and tongue retraction speed of up to 150 times per minute, the anteater can catch up to 30,000 termites per day.
The stomach of an ant-eating bear has a special structure that can crush large numbers of ants and termites, helping to facilitate digestion. This stomach produces formic acid instead of the hydrochloric acid commonly found in other mammals.
Ant-eating bears have poor eyesight but the ability to smell is very sharp, 40 times that of humans. They use their nose to find food. The body temperature of the anteater is 32.7°C, lower than that of other placental mammals. If living in the wild, anteater bears can live for 15 years and 25 years in captivity.
Ant-eating bears are pregnant for 190 days and give birth to only one cub at a time. The ant-eating bear will stay with the mother for two years until the mother-eating bear becomes pregnant again. During the first year of life, a bear that eats an ant will carry its cubs on its back.
4 Chameleons
A chameleon can project a tongue 6 times its body length. This animal is also on the list of world records for the fastest tongue in the animal kingdom. Most chameleon tongue movements involve elastic tissues. The gecko's tongue is about 15 to 20 centimeters long and itself is usually only 25 centimeters long.
With their peculiar 360-degree eyes, colorful skin, swaggering gait and monstrously long tongue, these chameleons are as cold-blooded as lizards. other. But the difference between them and their relatives not only comes from their appearance, but also in the tongue that is capable of launching with an acceleration from 0 to nearly 100km/h in just 1/100th of a second. In addition, researchers from Brown University have discovered something more interesting in this species.
According to an article published in Scientific Reports, the team found that the chameleon's tongue is even more bizarre than previously known, as it possesses the highest acceleration and produces more power per kilogram of muscle. any reptile, bird, or mammal that ever existed. This detail has been overlooked in previous studies of chameleons, mainly because the smallest types of chameleons had not appeared in previous studies.
According to the team's research, when they surveyed 20 different types of chameleons, they found that the smallest chameleons can project their tongues like a punch.
5 Sun Bears
Sun bears have very long tongues, which can be up to 25 cm long, and are often used to suck honey from beehives. This is why sun bears are also known as bile bears. The long tongue can be stretched in length to help them lick honey or pupa inside the hollows of trees or cliffs.
Sun bears are considered to be the smallest of all existing bear species. Adult sun bears are usually 1.2 to 1.5 m tall and weigh between 25 and 65 kg. Their tails are 3 to 7 cm long. Sun bears have thick, jet-black fur, always with a dark yellow crescent-shaped patch on their chest. The bear's distinctive long tongue, about 20 to 25 cm, can help the bear eat termites, ants and honey from deep holes. Sun bears have small, round ears and rarely move. They have short muzzles, large, curved feet with sharp claws.
Sun bears are found mainly in the rainforests of Southeast Asia. Including countries such as Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Their habitat is greatly dispersed due to deforestation, According to the IUCN Red List of threatened species, its population has been reduced by more than 30% in the past 30 years.
Sun bears can be active both during the day and at night. Their habitat is heavily influenced by human activities. Therefore, they are more active at night to avoid threats. Bears are often solitary and solitary. The only time it lives in herds is when looking for a mate and when taking care of young. They gather around a food source and share with each other as they feed their young. Sun bears spend their days resting under freshly sawed logs, in burrows or on platforms made of vegetation. Bears are very friendly. They are fast and skillful climbers. They do not hibernate because of the availability of food throughout the year.
6 Frogs
Frogs are famous for their lightning-fast tongues, but not only that, they are also very strong, able to pull objects that weigh 1.4 times their own body weight. A research engineer at the Georgia Institute of Technology explains the animals' unique anatomy: "Unlike humans, the frog's tongue is connected at the front of the lower jaw, rather than at the back of the neck. throat."
Frogs catch prey lightning-fast with their tongues thanks to their saliva's ability to cover and stick to their prey.
Alexis Noel, a researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, conducted to learn the skills of catching frogs, according to Business Insider. In research published in the journal Royal Society Interface, Noel shows that frog saliva has special physical properties that allow it to transform from a honey-like consistency to a liquid in just a few milliseconds.
When the frog's liquid tongue comes into contact with its prey, the liquid coats the insect and quickly turns into sticky substance. The frog grabs its prey, bringing it back to its mouth. Sticky saliva makes it difficult for frogs to swallow. As a result, the frog's eyes close, the eyeball is pushed into the head, causing the saliva to liquefy again, allowing the frog to swallow the prey more easily.
7 Giraffes
The giraffe's 53 cm long tongue comes in purple, blue and black colors. This is because they contain melanin, which acts as a kind of sun block when animals stick out their tongues to find leaves.
Giraffes are animals that belong to the same genus as deer and oxen, but are grouped differently from the others, the Giraffes, which include giraffes and a closest family, the striped giraffes. . The giraffe's range extends from Chad to South Africa.
Giraffes can live in savannas, grasslands or mountains. However, when food becomes scarce, they will venture into more wooded areas. They often prefer to live in areas with a lot of acacia trees. This species usually drinks large amounts of water at one time and can retain water for a long time in the body, so they can live in arid places for a long time.
Giraffes can run fast and in an emergency can reach a gallop of 55 km/h, meaning that over short distances they can overtake racehorses.
The neck is an important part of the giraffe's social and sexual behavior. As scientists observe, male giraffes often use their necks to "cuddle" each other. They curl their necks together and look very skillful; then violent acts between the two males began.
8 Tamarin Emperor
Possessing one of the most impressive mustaches in the animal kingdom, these primates are also known for sticking their tongues in and out of their mouths to communicate. Along with songs, whistles and facial expressions, they flick their tongues as a form of body language.
Saguinus imperator (or Prince Tamarin) lives in the southwestern basin of the Amazon. Although living in South America with a hot and humid climate, this is probably the primate that possesses the most "heavy" beard. Saguinus imperator is a species of mammal in the family Callitrichidae, primates. This species was described by Goeldi in 1907. It is found in the southwestern Amazon basin, in eastern Peru, in northern Bolivia and in the western Brazilian states of Acre and Amazonas.
Their fur is mostly gray, with yellow spots on the chest. The hands and feet are black, the tail is brown. They are distinguished by their long white mustaches, which extend to both sides of the face and extend beyond the shoulders. They reach a length of 23–26 centimeters (9–10 in), plus a 35–41.5 cm (13.8–16.3 in) tail. It weighs about 300-400 grams (11-14 oz).
Saguinus imperator is a genus of squirrel-sized New World monkeys in the family Callitrichidae. They differ from Old World monkeys in many ways, most notably a distinct nose phenotype, a feature often used to distinguish the two groups. The New World monkey's nose is much flatter than the Old World monkey's narrow nose, moreover, their nostrils point out to the sides. Some New World monkeys have tails for grasping, as opposed to Old World monkeys.
9 Monsters of Gila
The Gila monster's long forked tongue is said to be able to detect odors. It is used to pick up chemical gradients in the air, allowing animals to smell potential prey or detect danger.
The Gila monster is a reptile belonging to the superfamily of lizards, living mainly in North America, north of the border with Mexico, their appearance is easily recognizable by the patches of pink, orange or yellow. The large tail accounts for 20% of the body size. For individuals with a size of 50-55 cm, the body weight can reach 350-700 grams. They are considered living fossils because fossils found from the Cretaceous Period (Cretaceous Period) tens of millions of years ago have remained in the same form without too much change.
In 1890, according to a report from independent research by Dr. George Goodfellow, the Gila Monster, although it was an extremely slow reptile, actually developed a quite perfect olfactory system, the ability to sense of smell, smell is always higher than many reptiles in the same family.
Their hunting habits are often insects and small animals that accidentally pass by where they are standing. At this time, the Gila Monster will bite its prey then the poison in the grooves of the teeth will slowly enter the victim's body through the open wound. They are also one of the few poisonous lizards in the world. Their venom contains the chemical neurotoxin (a neurotoxin) to a mild degree. So Gila's bites will usually be quite painful but not fatal to humans.
10 Red-bellied Woodpeckers
This bird's long tongue is made of muscle, bone and cartilage, which they "store" by wrapping it around their skull when not in use. Larry Witmer, professor of anatomy and paleontology at Ohio, explains: “The string-like base of the tongue extends out of the mouth, winding behind and to the top of the head, sometimes extending forward to level to the nostrils”.
Woodpeckers have strong beaks that they use to drill and knock in trees, and long sticky tongues for food (insects and larvae). When courting a mate, woodpeckers perform more than 12,000 knocks a day. Woodpeckers use straight, arrow-like knocks on the trunk of the tree to contribute to reducing the feedback force, avoiding concussions to the head. Woodpeckers can knock on hard surfaces up to 20 times a second with 1,200 times the force of gravity without any shock, brain and retina are not injured. A millisecond before the knock, the dense muscles in the bird's neck contract, while the eyelids are tightly closed, allowing some of the force to be released to the muscles in the neck, helping to protect the skull from the blows. strong typing.
Woodpecker skulls accumulate a lot of minerals that make them very solid. Brain scans show that woodpeckers have very little fluid surrounding their brains. This helps limit the amplitude of the brain's oscillations. The woodpecker's tongue sits between the eyes and wraps all the way to the back of the skull, having a composite structure of hard and flexible materials that allows it to absorb a lot of the impact and vibrations of each woodpecker peck.[ 3] Combined, this type of anatomical construction helps the beak absorb mechanical stress. Their long sticky tongues, with stiff bristles, help these birds grab and retrieve insects from deep in holes in trees. It has been noted that their tongues are used to stab insects, but more detailed studies published in 2004 have shown that instead, the tongue wraps around the prey before being pulled out.
11 Snakes
The forked tongue could allow snakes to expose more surface area. When snakes stick out their tongues, they collect "odor molecules". When the tongue is retracted, the "odor molecules" will be delivered to the nasal bone organ in the roof of the mouth. Here, this organ will analyze the smell and send signals to the brain, helping the snake to distinguish the smell. We know that when looking with two eyes, the brain must synthesize information from two streams to have a more specific view of what is around.
Similarly, the snake's forked tongue is also responsible for collecting odors from two different locations. This helps it detect specific odors in which direction and quickly move to the desired destination. Besides, the split snake tongue also helps it to smell odors in three dimensions. This phenomenon is similar to that of owls using two asymmetrical ears to detect three-dimensional sound.
Both snakes and owls often use similar neural circuits to compare signal strength from the sides of the body and determine direction by taste or sound. It even helps snakes hunt for prey or potential mates by familiar smells. After detecting a scent along the way, the snake will touch its tongue to the ground or create a vortex in the air to get the chemical information contained in it and provide chemical information according to the above mechanism. Signals to the brain analysis contribute to the direction of snake activity.
Recently, the American zoologist Shiwenke studied this problem, he discovered that the snake's branched tongue is not only an organ of taste, but also a special locator. It can distinguish directions just like the human ears, which have the effect of distinguishing sound from which direction.
Snakes rely on two branches next to their tongue to receive information from their prey, from which they can locate their prey and immediately pursue. Experiments have proven that, if you cut off the two small tips of the snake's tongue, it will lose its ability to detect odors, even get lost, keep circling on the ground.
12 Saint Bernard Dogs
The current Guinness World Record holder for the longest dog tongue belongs to a St. Bernard's name is Mochi. With a winning measure of 7.3 inches (about 18.58 cm), Mochi, a rescue dog, lives with his proud owners in South Dakota.
St. The Bernard is a very large breed of dog from Italy and the Swiss Alps, originally bred for rescue purposes. The breed became famous through its story of alpine rescue, as well as its large size. Is the result of mating between the native breed of Switzerland and the Mastiff of Asia, when they followed the Roman army to invade the Alps. During the first 2 centuries AD they were very developed and popular. A few hundred years later, the Saint Bernard was used on a secondment mission, gradually being raised on farms to herd sheep and cattle. In monasteries and hospices, they followed monks to rescue after avalanches.
This large breed was used for carrying goods, guarding treasures and herding sheep on farms. Today, the Saint Bernard is also raised as a rescue dog in the high snow-covered mountains, with the image of a giant dog, with a bottle of brandy on his neck (used to resuscitate and fight cold for victims of snow) buried)
The St. Bernard is a giant dog breed. The average weight of this breed is between 140 and 264 lb (64–120kg) or more and the approximate height at the withers is 70 to 90cm. Coat can be smooth or coarse, with fine, thin, flat hair. Coarse coat is thick but flat, more around the neck and legs. The coat is usually red and white, or sometimes a mahogany brindle with white. Glossy black is commonly found on the face and ears. The tail is long and heavy. Eyes are usually brown, but can sometimes be ice blue.
Above are the top animals with the longest tongue in the world today that Toplist learns and provides to readers. Follow along to know more interesting things about the animal world in the following articles.
