By Johannes Malinowski
A pretty wet affair!
Some are particularly long, others extremely fast. Everyone has one, we all need them and other living beings can’t live without them either: animals have amazing tricks up their sleeves with their tongues. But which animals in Berlin’s zoo and animal park have the most extraordinary ones?
► Chameleon – the speed hunters: The tongue is up to 27 centimeters, twice as long as the animal. It captures its prey with a sticky tongue that can snap at speeds of up to 20 km/h.
► Giraffe – all-rounder: The blue tongue grows up to half a meter long. Giraffes not only use this to grab branches, but can even clean their eyes. The blue color protects against intense sunlight while eating.
► Okapi – stay clean! The okapi tongue is used not only to clean the eyes, but also the ears.
► Anteater – true to the name: The tongue is up to 60 centimeters long and flicks out up to 160 times per minute. This is how he catches ants and termites.
► Bat – long and pure: The tongue is about one and a half times as long as the body. The bat can collect nectar with its tongue like a mop.
► Snakes – sleuths: Snakes smell with their forked tongues. They use their two olfactory buds to recognize the direction and origin of smells. This way they don’t have to turn their head.
► Snails – the practitioners: Snail tongues are equipped with thousands of tiny teeth. Similar to a kitchen grater, they scrape off their food.