The truth about the use of the snare-stick tongue of snakes

There are many theories about the function of the tongue protruding, rapidly receding in snakes, from doubling the ability to feel the taste of food, to the bait-catching tongue and stabbing the enemy. However, the truth is not as it appears to be.

Theories explain the use of snakes in snakes for thousands of years. Aristotle philosopher once said that the tongue helps double feel the taste of snakes. While Italian astronomer Giovanni Hodierna again conjectures, snakes use tongue to remove dirt in their noses.

Some pens in the 17th century even claimed to have observed snakes catching flies or other animals with their two branches, like using a pliers. Another point that is still popular today is that snakes can use their tongues to stab their prey or other targets.

However, the latest scientific research has rejected all of these hypotheses.

According to experts, most of the tongue animals on Earth use them to taste food, clean up parts of their bodies or catch or manipulate their prey. Some species, including humans, use tongues to make noise.

Snakes do not use their blades for any of the above functions. According to Kurt Schwenk, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Connecticut (USA), who has studied the function of snake blades for the past 20 years, these reptiles have used tongues to "smell".

Specifically, the tongue uses blades to pick up chemicals from the air or on the ground. The tongue of this reptile has no sense of smell or taste . Instead, these receptors are located in a section called "cane leaves" in the mouth of the snake. Once inside the sugarcane leaf, different chemicals trigger different electrical signals to the brain.

Researchers once said that the snake's tongue turned chemicals collected directly into sugarcane leaves. However, X-rays show that the tongue does not move into the closed mouth, but simply places the collected chemicals on the pads on the floor of the mouth when the solid mouth is closed.

Most likely, pads have brought chemical sample molecules to the entrance of sugarcane leaves when the oral floor is raised to contact the palate, followed by a solid tongue. Verdict is considered reasonable because of geckos and some deep, tongueless lizards still bring chemicals to their sugarcane leaves.

In addition, because there are two branches, solid blades can test chemical information from two different directions at the same time. When the snake expands its two branches, the distance can be doubled their head width. This is important because the two blades will feel the growth of chemicals in the environment, helping them to orientate well.

In the 1980s, snake researcher Neil Ford of the University of Texas (USA) observed male individuals of North American striped snakes using their tongues when tracking the pheromone to find snakes.