Forked tongue

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Forked tongue of a Carpet Python (Morelia spilota mcdowelli)
Forked tongue of a Carpet Python (Morelia spilota mcdowelli)

A forked tongue is a tongue split into two distinct ends at the tip. This is a feature common to many species of reptiles. Reptiles smell using the tip of their tongue, and a forked tongue allows them to tell which direction a smell is coming from.

The image has given rise to the expression "to speak with a forked tongue," meaning to say one thing and mean another or, in more general terms, to act in a duplicitous manner.

Hummingbirds also have tongues that split at the tip.[1] Galagos (bushbabies) have a secondary tongue, or sublingua, used for grooming, hidden under their first.[2]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Bill Hilton Jr (2007-06-12). Hummingbird Internal Anatomy and Physiology (English). Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project. Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History. Retrieved on 2008-02-13. “The tongue itself splits in the floor of the mouth”
  2. ^ Monkeyland. Bushbaby - Galago moholi (English). Meet Our Primates. Monkeyland Primate Sanctuary. Retrieved on 2008-02-13. “equipped with a second, pointy tongue underneath their normal one”
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