Truth or Tail: Giraffe have prehensile tongues| Cleveland Zoological Society

Truth or Tail?

Giraffe have prehensile tongues.

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Truth!

Just like an elephant’s trunk or a monkey’s tail – giraffe have a prehensile tongue! Basically it means they have fine muscular control allowing them to grasp and hold things. A giraffe’s tongue is also the strongest of any animal, and it can be an impressive 18 inches long! For comparison, the average human tongue is between 3 to 3.5 inches long.

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Their long, strong, and prehensile tongues allow giraffe to selectively pluck leaves from in between thorns found on some of their preferred feeding trees. To kick the tongue’s coolness-factor up a notch, it is surrounded by a thick layer of glue-like saliva that also helps protect the giraffe’s mouth from sticks and thorns. I would say the giraffe licks the competition for the world’s coolest tongue!

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