• Question: Is it true that giraffe’s tongues purple and long?

    Asked by anon-193079 to iainstaniland on 2 Nov 2018.
    • Photo: Iain Staniland

      Iain Staniland answered on 2 Nov 2018:

      What a brilliant question!
      I knew they were long but was not sure of the colour so I checked out a few you-tube videos and they do appear to be a darkish blue/purple colour.
      The length is all about being able to strip leaves from branches whilst avoiding the thorns that the trees use to try and protect themselves. The tongue is basically a muscle, and in the case of the giraffe it is very long and flexible to reach those hard to get leaves.
      Looking this up I have learnt that the darker colour is thought to be to help prevent sunburn as the tongue spends so much time out of the mouth in the strong African sun. However, other animals also have similar coloured tongues so this is only one possible explanation (see https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/why-do-some-animals-have-blue-tongues). That is what I love about science learning new things everyday!

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