Why Do Snakes Constantly Evert Their Pelvic Snakes and Move Their Tongues Back and Forth?
Whenever snakes are mentioned, many people get goosebumps. What is commonly referred to as 'discomfort' is actually a fear of snakes. Even when people know that some snakes are not venomous, they still fear them.
Snakes have a very obvious characteristic: they love to flick their tongues, commonly known as 'tonguing.' Anyone who has observed snakes knows that their tongues are unique, with a forked tip.
So why do snakes have this habit? This has puzzled people for many years, and various theories have circulated, but most of them are incorrect.
In fact, snakes have been living on Earth for 100 million years. Alexander von Humboldt was very interested in this cold-blooded, tailless animal. We can find numerous descriptions of snakes in his writings.
So how did people used to explain the phenomenon of snakes 'tonguing'? One theory was that the forked snakehead could make the snake's sense of taste richer, i.e., the snakehead could make it eat more deliciously. This theory has no scientific basis.
Italian astronomer Giovanni Hodierna believed that snakes used their tongues to clean dirt from their noses, but this theory is also fictitious.
Another theory was that the tongue was the source of their venom, but subsequent research has confirmed that snake venom does not come from their snakeheads; snakes have a dedicated venom gland.
It wasn't until the 19th century that French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lagisepel's investigations concluded that snakes' tongues are actually olfactory organs.
In recent years, more experiments have shown that when snakes extend their tongues, they obtain some substances, and when they retract their tongues, the tongue extends to the upper part of their mouth, called the Jacobson's organ.
Jacobson's organ
The Jacobson's organ is made up of many sensory cells, which can integrate and analyze chemical substances and distinguish chemical substances in the particles, and then accurately catch prey.
After judging, snakes can accurately capture prey. When animals bitten by snakes run away, snakes can use their retractable tongues and sensitive Jacobson's organ to control and track, until they find the object they are about to catch.
In fact, many mammals have this Jacobson's organ, such as cats and horses, but unlike snakes, they don't flick and move their tongues.
