Nebraskaland

14 Nebraskaland • January-February 2020 TONGUE TIED By Monica Macoubrie Nebraska's natural world is filled with all sorts of flamboyantly bizarre creatures. Hiding inside their mouths are some of nature's most outrageous tongues, which give these animals unique abilities. Here are a few. Woodpecker tongues are long and narrow with backward- projecting barbs near the tip. They use this tongue like a spear, impaling insects and then capturing prey with a large amount of sticky saliva. However, where does a woodpecker store this tongue, which can be several times longer than its bill? In short, its tongue wraps around its skull. The bones and muscles that attach the tongue to the throat run over the brain, around the side of the head, under the lower jaw and into the mouth where the bones meet to form the tongue. Bobcat tongues, like all feline tongues, are covered with papillae, or tiny hooks, that give their tongue a rough texture. These microscopic hooks face toward the throat of the animal and work like a comb to help clean the cat's fur. In the wild, these papillae also help the animal tear meat off the bones of its prey. Their tongues also work like temperature regulators; during the winter, they help to fluff the fur to keep warm. In the summer, they use their saliva to wet their fur down to stay cool. Over the past few decades scientists have determined that the closest approximation of what snakes do with their tongue is smell. Snakes collect chemicals from the air and ground whenever they flick their tongue in and out. The tongue itself does not have receptors to taste or smell. Instead, the receptors are in the Jacobson's organ in the roof of the mouth. Once the chemicals are inside the mouth, they will trigger electric signals, which are then relayed to the brain. Because a snake's tongue is forked, they can collect information from two different places at once. Their forked tongue gives them a 3-D smelling "view" and helps them gain a sense of direction. A frog's diet can vary, so their tongue has to be widely adaptable at grabbing sticky, hairy and even slippery surfaces with ease. The speed at which they stick their tongue out is also incredible, around five times faster than a human can blink. Studies also show that they can use their tongue to pull prey 1.4 times their own body weight. The impact on the insect is studied in some frogs to be around 12 times the acceleration of gravity. Just so you have something to compare this to, when astronauts take off in a rocket launch, they experience around three times the acceleration of gravity. Tongues are sometimes considered gross and slimy; however, they are essential organs that can make all the difference when it comes to an animal's chance of survival. Monica Macoubrie is an outdoor educator with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. IN THE FIELD ILLUSTRATION BY MICHELE FARRAR Woodpecker's barbed tongue The tongue wraps around the back of the skull

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