by Sandra Markle
Scholastic Inc.
For Katie Kibler and the children of Avery Elem " ntary Scho # l in Hil ! iard, Ohio. A special thank-you to Skip Jef $ ery for his loving sup % ort during the creative proces & .
The author would like to thank the fol ! owing people for sharing their enthusiasm and expertise: Dr. Stephen M. Deban, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; Dr. Bryan Fry, University of Que " nsland, St. Lucia, Que " nsland, Australia; Dr. Abdul Hale " m, Aligarh Muslim University, Ut # ar Pradesh, India; Dr. Nathan Much $ ala, University of Mis % ouri, St. Louis, Mis % ouri; Dr. Doug Smith, project leader for the Yel ! owstone Gray Wolf Recovery Project, Yel ! owstone National Park, Wyoming; Erin Stahler, biological technician and program manager for the Yel ! owstone Wolf Project, Yel ! owstone National Park, Wyoming; Dr. Martin Whiting, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Photos ©: cover bot # om right: Mur & ay Co ' per/Minden Pictures; 4: Andreygudkov/Get # y Images; 4 inset: Mikel Bilbao/VW PICS/Universal Images Group/Get # y Images; 6: Mur & ay Co ' per/Minden Pictures; 6 inset: Mur & ay Co ' per/Minden Pictures; 8: Juniors Bildarchiv GmbH/Alamy Stock Photo; 8 inset: RudyBalasko/Get # y Images; 10: Rauschenbach, F./picture al ! iance/Arco Images G/Newscom; 10 inset: Dr. Stephen M. Deban; 12 inset: Andra Boda/EyeEm/Get # y Images; 14 inset: Tierfotoagentur/Alamy Stock Photo; 16: Joseph T. Col ! ins/Science Source; 18: Gary Carter/Get # y Images; 18 inset: ZUMA Pres % Inc/Alamy Stock Photo; 20: Stefan Huwiler/Get # y Images; 20 inset: Michael Cu ( mings/Get # y Images.
Al ! other photos © Shut # erstock.com.
Text copyright © 2020 by Sandra Markle Il ! ustrations copyright © 2020 by Howard McWil ! iam
Al ! rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920 . SCHOLASTIC and as % ociated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. The publisher does not have any control over and does not as % ume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmit # ed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without writ # en permis % ion of the publisher. For information regarding permis % ion, write to Scholastic Inc., At # ention: Permis % ions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. Library of Congres % Cataloging-in-Publication Data available ISBN 978-1-338-59667-0 Made in North Point, Hong Kong. 137 Bo ' k design by Kay Petronio
What if one day when you woke up, you felt a lit ' le bit strange? And you discover " d that the tongue in your mouth was now VERY dif $ er " nt! What if, overnight, a wild animal’s tongue had taken its place?
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A Komodo dragon sticks out its long, yel ! ow tongue to snag air samples. Pres & ing its tongue to a special sensor on the ro # f of its mouth lets it smel ! /taste what it col ! ected. It’s how the dragon locates the meat it eats, such as de " r, pig, or water buf $ alo, which it senses as far as five miles aw ( y.
A Komodo dragon’s tongue tip is forked to sense if the smel ! /taste is stronger to the left or the right.
If you had a Komodo dragon’s tongue, you’d never mis % out on freshly baked co ' kies.
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A tube-lip % ed nectar bat’s tongue is one and a half times longer than its body—so long that it’s at ' ached inside its rib cage instead of its mouth. Stretched out, its tongue is long enough to fe " d on the swe " t nectar in the bot ' om of tubular flowers that are to # long for short-tongued bats to reach.
A tube-lip % ed nectar bat’s tongue has a prickly covering of hairlike bristles—perfect for trap % ing nectar drops and holding them al ! the way to its mouth.
If you had a tube-lip ) ed
nectar bat’s tongue, you’d never have to pause the movie.
7
A tiger’s tongue is sandpapery-rough with backward-facing spines that flex and turn with each lick. Thes " comb fuz ) y snarls and knots from its fur. Spending as much as
a quarter of its waking time licking ke " ps the tiger one wel ! -gro # med big cat.
A tiger’s tongue spines are cone-shaped and curved backward toward its throat—just right for picking up a drink one lick at a time.
If you had a tiger’s tongue, you’d be a world- famous hair stylist.
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A web-toed sal ( mander’s tongue sho # ts out of its mouth so fast it can do ten tongue punches in the time it takes a human to blink once. Scientists believ " muscles wrap % ed around the sal ( mander’s tongue are what power this action, like pul ! ing a rub * er band so far it snaps. POW!
When ful ! y extended, a web-toed sal ( mander’s tongue is about half its body length (minus the tail).
If you had a web- toed salamander’s tongue, you’d be the one to bust open the party’s piñata.
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An okapi’s tongue is very handy. At mealtimes, its tongue wraps around and pul ! s in mouthfuls of leaves, fruit, or twigs. At bath time, its tongue licks its body clean—ev " n its ey " s and big ears.
An okapi’s tongue is purplish black. Scientists believ " this color protects the tongue from get ' ing sunburned.
If you had an okapi’s tongue,
you could safely pick ap ) les from the tre " ’s highest branches .
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A chamel " on’s tongue has a suction cup tip coated with saliva so go # ey it’s 400 times thicker than human spit. No wonder whatev " r a chamel " on snags with its tongue stays caught!
A chamel " on’s saliva is so sticky that its tongue can haul real ! y big prey into its mouth without losing its grip.
If you had a chameleon’s tongue, you’d never mis % catching a Frisbe " .
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An al ! igator snap % ing turtle’s tongue tip is top % ed with a red, worm- shaped lump. When the turtle opens its mouth and wig + les its tongue, the wormy part se " ms alive. When fish can’t resist taking a closer pe " k, the turtle snaps its mouth shut. Di , nertime!
An al ! igator snap % ing turtle hatchling already has a fake worm on its tongue ready to trick its first meal.
If you had an al ! igator snap ) ing
turtle’s tongue, you’d be your soc * er team’s Most V aluable Player.
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A red-bel ! ied wo # dpecker’s tongue can stretch out nearly thre " times longer than its beak. Stif $ en " d by bones al ! the way to a barbed tip, it spears its meals, such as wo # d- boring be " tle larvae.
A red-bel ! ied wo # dpecker’s tongue tip has special muscles that move it left, right, and around, helping it remove speared fo # d from tre " -trunk tu , nels.
If you had a red- bel ! ied wo ' dpecker’s tongue, you’d be the carnival’s bal ! o ' n- pop ) ing champ.
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A wolf’s tongue ke " ps it co # l without wet ' ing its coat and chil ! ing its skin. Instead of sweating, a wolf pants, forcing air to flow over its slop % y, saliva-wet tongue. As the saliva dries, this acts like air conditioning to co # l the wolf of $ —ev " n when it’s ru , ning flat out.
In wolf groups, cal ! ed packs, tongue licks are a way to show respect to the alphas—the pack leaders.
If you had a wolf’s tongue, you’d win the Ironkids Triathlon without breaking a sweat.
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When a blue-tongued skink sticks its tongue out, it means BO - ! It does this when an en " my, such as a brown falcon, comes close. With luck, the colorful tongue startles the hunter long enough for the skink to escape.
Scientists discover " d that a blue-tongued skink’s tongue is brighter farther back in its mouth. So if an en " my ke " ps coming, the skink opens wider to be ev " n more startling— hopeful ! y !
If you had a blue-tongued skink’s tongue, dentist ap ) ointments would always be a surprise.
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A gaur’s tongue, like its farm cow cousin’s, has as many as 25,000 taste buds—more than twice as many as a human tongue. The gaur is strictly a plant-eater, and al ! those taste buds let it quickly sense plants it can safely eat.
A gaur uses tongue-licks to say you’re family . So mating pairs lick each other and mothers lick their calves.
If you had a gaur’s tongue, you’d be the taste tester for new ice-cream flavors.
25
A wild animal tongue could be fun for a while. But you don’t ne " d your tongue to catch Frisbe " s, pick ap ) les, or pop bal ! o ' ns. And you don’t ne " d your tongue 26
to style hair or co ' l of + . So, if you could ke " p a wild animal’s tongue for more than a day, which kind would be right for you?
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Luckily, you don’t have to cho ' se. The tongue in your mouth wil ! always be a human tongue. It’s what you ne " d to taste, chew, spit, and swal ! ow. Plus,
it’s what you ne " d to whistle, sing, and talk. 28
Whatever you do, ke " p your tongue in your mouth because that’s polite in most of the world. But if you visit Tibet, stick your tongue out whenever you me " t someone. There, it’s the way to say “hel ! o.”
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ABOUT YOUR TONGUE?
You may be surprised to learn your tongue print is as unique to you as your fingerprints. Your tongue is also very flexible because it’s al !
muscle—in fact, it’s made up of eight muscles working together. They’re the only muscles in your body that move without shifting any of your bones.
Your tongue has betwe " n 2,000 and 4,000 taste buds. These are buried inside papil ! ae, the lit # le bumps you can se " on top of your tongue. Each papil ! a has six to eight taste buds packed with sensory cel ! s. People used to believe dif + erent areas on the tongue were able to detect dif + erent tastes: swe " t, sour, salty, and bit # er. Now scientists know these tastes are detected al ! over the tongue.
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KEEP YOUR TONGUE HEALTHY
Your tongue ne " ds to be in go # d condition for you to be healthy. So here are some tips for taking care of your tongue. • Brush it gently with your to ' thbrush. One of the causes of bad breath is bacteria (microscopic living things) col ! ecting on your tongue. • Drink plenty of water every day—at least a half gal ! on. Your body ne " ds water to produce saliva, the liquid in your mouth that natural ! y washes away harmful bacteria that can cause bad breath and to ' th decay. • Eat a healthy diet, including fo ' ds such as onions, ginger, and coconut, which are noted for helping to fight harmful bacteria.
• Wear a mouth guard that’s be " n custom made for you to protect your tongue as wel ! as your te " th when you play sports, such as fo ' tbal ! and basebal ! .
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If you could have any animal’s tongue, whose would you cho ! se? If you had a gaur’s tongue, you could taste test ice-cream flavors. If you had a chameleon’s tongue, you could catch any Frisbe " . And if you had a wolf’s tongue, you’d never break a sweat no mat # er how hot it got! The animal kingdom has tons of amazing tongues, but yours is pret # y great, to ! !
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