30 Amazing and Interesting Facts about Tongue | Amazing Facts 4U
- The tongue is the strongest muscle in the body and most flexible. It is the only muscle in the body that is connected at one end to the floor of the mouth.
- In fact, the tongue heals faster than any other part of the body. Tongue piercings are the quickest to close once jewelry has been removed.
- 85% of the population can curl their tongue into a tube.
- The human tongue is as unique to you as your fingerprints since it comes in various shapes and has a variable number of taste buds.
- Amazingly almost half of all the bacteria in your mouth live on your tongue. Your tongue is germ-free only if it is pink. If it is white there is a thin film of bacteria on it.
- Your tongue never stops working. Even when you sleep it is pushing saliva into your throat.
- The fact is it’s almost impossible to lick your elbow.
- The human tongue has on average 3,000 – 10,000 taste buds. One taste bud has 50-100 taste cells.
- No single taste bud cell has the ability to differentiate between bitter and sweet. They work in conjecture with each other.
- Not all our taste buds are on our tongue; about 10% are on the palette and the cheeks.
- The tongue is the main sensory organ of the taste sense. The upper surface of a tongue is covered with taste buds which contain taste receptors.
- Taste receptors cannot actually taste food until saliva has moistened it, for example, we usually taste salty things first as salt dissolves quickly in moisture.
- The bumps we can see on the tongue are called papillae. Taste buds sit on top of these papillae but are not visible to the human eye.
- There are 4 basic tastes. The salt and sweet taste buds are mainly at the tip of the tongue, bitter at the base and sour along the sides.
- Humans also use the tongue for a speech where it helps with changes in sound.
- Your tongue is a natural cleaner. It starts clearing out food on your teeth after eating.
- On average, women have shorter tongues than men.
- The human tongue is divided into two parts the anterior and the posterior. The anterior part of the tongue is the visible part at the front and is about two-thirds of the tongue’s length. The posterior tongue area is closest to the throat, and roughly one-third of the length.
- There are eight muscles in the human tongue. They can be classified as intrinsic or extrinsic. There are four intrinsic muscles that are not attached to any bone, they are the muscles that allow the tongue to change shape, such as point, roll, tuck, etc. There are four extrinsic muscles that are attached to the bone, they allow the tongue to change position, such as poke out, retract, side to side movement.
- The average length of the human tongue from the back to the tip is about 10 cm (4 in).
- Stephen Taylor holds the Guinness World Record for the longest tongue, measuring 3.74 inches (9.5 cm). They measure the tongue from the tip to the center of the closed top lip.
- Sticking your tongue out at people is seen as childish or rude in many countries, however, in Tibet, it is considered a greeting.
- The tongue is a special kind of muscle called a muscular hydrostatic meaning it operates without any help from your skeletal structure, like an elephant trunk or octopus tentacle.
- The blue whale has the largest tongue. It is the size of an elephant and weighs 5,400 lbs.
- Some animal tongues are specially designed to catch prey. Chameleons, frogs, and anteaters have tongues that can extend out of their mouth and grab insects. A chameleon’s tongue is twice the length of its body.
- Giraffes have bluish-purple tongues which are tough and covered in bristly hair to help them with eating the thorny Acacia trees.
- Dogs and cats often use their tongues to clean their fur and body. The very rough texture of their tongue allows them to remove oils and parasites.
- Have you ever wondered why a dog’s tongue hangs out of its mouth after a lot of exercises? Well, a dog’s tongue increases in size as it exercises due to greater blood flow, moisture on the tongue works to cool this blood flow, cooling the dog.
- Cats can’t taste sweets. They have fewer taste buds than humans. Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they eat only meat. As far as science knows, cats might be the only mammals incapable of enjoying ice cream.
- Science has only recently discovered that when cats drink, it’s like a gravity-defying act. The tongue barely brushes the surface of a liquid before darting quickly back up, forming a column of water between the moving tongue and the surface of the liquid. Then the cat’s jaws snap closes around this column of water, and the cat swallows it. Cats lap at a rate of 4 times per second which is too quick for humans to see. This amazing fact was only discovered after a series of high-speed photographs.
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