Tongues are pretty important and have many functions – making sounds, tasting and manipulating food, and swallowing. But do all animals have tongues?
Do fish have tongues?
Technically fish don't have tongues, however most fish have a bony structure called the basihyal on the floor of the mouth that superficially resembles a tongue. But it doesn’t have taste buds, isn’t muscular and has very little motion, so it isn’t directly equivalent.
It probably evolved to protect the ventral aorta (the major blood vessel from the heart), which lies very close to the mouth, from impacts with large, wriggly food.
So how do fish swallow food without tongues? The answer is a rather complex system combining jaw movements and body muscle contractions
It is believed sharks compensate for a missing tongue by using the muscles of their pectoral girdle – the equivalent of our shoulders – that supports and powers the anterior NS during swimming.
Think I will stick to tongues
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