Jump to content
 







Main menu
   


Navigation  



Main page
Contents
Current events
Random article
About Wikipedia
Contact us
Donate
 




Contribute  



Help
Learn to edit
Community portal
Recent changes
Upload file
 








Search  

































Create account

Log in
 









Create account
 Log in
 




Pages for logged out editors learn more  



Contributions
Talk
 



















Contents

   



(Top)
 


1 Usage as an idiomatic expression  





2 Literary usage  





3 See also  





4 References  














Forked tongue






العربية
Eesti
فارسی
Français
Bahasa Melayu
Nederlands
Português
Tiếng Vit
 

Edit links
 









Article
Talk
 

















Read
Edit
View history
 








Tools
   


Actions  



Read
Edit
View history
 




General  



What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Cite this page
Get shortened URL
Download QR code
Wikidata item
 




Print/export  



Download as PDF
Printable version
 




In other projects  



Wikimedia Commons
 
















Appearance
   

 






From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 


Forked tongue of a carpet python (Morelia spilota mcdowelli)

Aforked tongue is a tongue split into two distinct tines at the tip; this is a feature common to many species of reptiles. Reptiles smell using the tip of their tongue, and a forked tongue allows them to sense from which direction a smell is coming.[citation needed] Sensing from both sides of the head and following trails based on chemical cues is called tropotaxis.[1] It is unclear whether forked-tongued reptiles can actually follow trails or if this is just a hypothesis.[2][3][4]

Forked tongues have evolved in these squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes) for various purposes. The advantage to having a forked tongue is that more surface area is available for the chemicals to contact and the potential for tropotaxis.[5] The tongue is flicked out of the mouth regularly to sample the chemical environment. This form of chemical sampling allows these animals to sense non-volatile chemicals, which cannot be detected by simply using the olfactory system.[6][7][8] This increased ability to sense chemicals has allowed for heightened abilities to identify prey, recognize kin, choose mates, locate shelters, follow trails, and more.[8]

Forked tongues have evolved multiple times in squamates. It is unclear, based on the morphological and genetic evidence, where the exact points of change are from a notched tongue to a forked tongue, but it is believed that the change has happened two to four times.[1][9] A common behavioral characteristic that has evolved in those with forked tongues is that they tend to be wide foragers.[1][10]

Hummingbirds also have tongues that split at the tip.[11] Galagos (bushbabies) have a secondary tongue, or sublingua, used for grooming, hidden under their first.[12]

Usage as an idiomatic expression[edit]

The phrase "speaks with a forked tongue" means to deliberately say one thing and mean another or, to be hypocritical, or act in a duplicitous manner. In the longstanding tradition of many Native American tribes, "speaking with a forked tongue" has meant lying, and a person was no longer considered worthy of trust, once he had been shown to "speak with a forked tongue."[citation needed] This phrase was also adopted by Americans around the time of the Revolution, and may be found in abundant references from the early 19th century—often reporting on American officers who sought to convince the tribal leaders with whom they negotiated that they "spoke with a straight and not with a forked tongue" (as for example, President Andrew Jackson told the Creek Nation in 1829[13][14]). According to one 1859 account, the native proverb that the "white man spoke with a forked tongue" originated as a result of the French tactic of the 1690s, in their war with the Iroquois, of inviting their enemies to attend a peace conference, only to be slaughtered or captured.[15]

Literary usage[edit]

There are appearances of the phrase "forked tongue" in English literature, either in reference to actual snakes' tongues, or as a metaphor for untruthfulness, such as a sermon by Lancelot Andrewes, who died in 1626:

"And he hath the art of cleaving. He shewed it in the beginning, when he made the Serpent, linguam bisulcam, a forked tongue, to speake that, which was contrarie to his knowledge and meaning, They should not die; and as he did the Serpent's, so he can doe others."[16]

The phrase also appears in Milton's Paradise Lost:

According to his Doom: He would have spoke,
But Hiss for Hiss return'd with forked Tongue
To forked Tongue, for now were all transform'd...[17]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Schwenk, K. (March 1994). "Why snakes have forked tongues". Science. 263 (5153): 1573–1577. Bibcode:1994Sci...263.1573S. doi:10.1126/science.263.5153.1573. PMID 17744784. S2CID 28010522.
  • ^ Kubie, J.L.; Halpen, M. (1979). "Chemical senses involved in garter snake prey training". Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology. 93 (4): 648–447. doi:10.1037/h0077606.
  • ^ Waters, R.M. (1993). "Odorized air current trailing by garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis". Brain, Behavior and Evolution. 41 (3–5): 219–223. doi:10.1159/000113841. PMID 8477343.
  • ^ Parker, M.R.; Young, B.A.; Kardong, K.V. (2008). "The forked tongue and edge detection in snakes (Crotalus oreganus): an experimental test". Journal of Comparative Psychology. 122 (1): 35–40. doi:10.1037/0735-7036.122.1.35. PMID 18298279.
  • ^ Cooper, W.E. (April 1995). "Evolution and function of lingual shape in lizards, with emphasis on elongation, extensibility, and chemical sampling". Journal of Chemical Ecology. 21 (4): 477–505. doi:10.1007/BF02036744. PMID 24234178. S2CID 33016552.
  • ^ Baxi, K.N.; Dorries, K.M.; Eisthen, H.L. (January 2006). "Is the vomeronasal organ system really specialized for detecting pheromones?". Trends in Neurosciences. 29 (1): 1–7. doi:10.1016/j.tins.2005.10.002. PMID 16271402. S2CID 6487660.
  • ^ Shine, R.; Bonnet, X.; et al. (February 2004). "A novel foraging mode in snakes: browsing by the sea snake Emydocephalus annulatus (Serpentes, Hydrophiidae)". Functional Ecology. 18 (1): 16–24. doi:10.1046/j.0269-8463.2004.00803.x.
  • ^ a b Schwenk, K. (January 1995). "Of tongues and noses, chemoreception in lizards and snakes". Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 10 (1): 7–12. doi:10.1016/S0169-5347(00)88953-3. PMID 21236937.
  • ^ Townsend, T.M.; Larson, A.; et al. (October 2004). "Molecular phylogenetics of Squamata: the position of snakes, Amphisbaenians, and Dibamids, and the root of the squamate tree". Systematic Biology. 53 (5): 735–757. doi:10.1080/10635150490522340. PMID 15545252.
  • ^ Cooper, W.E. (1995). "Foraging mode, prey chemical discrimination, and phylogeny in lizards". Animal Behaviour. 50 (4): 973–985. doi:10.1016/0003-3472(95)80098-0. S2CID 53189324.
  • ^ Bill Hilton Jr (2007-06-12). "Hummingbird Internal Anatomy and Physiology". Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project. Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History. Retrieved 2008-02-13. The tongue itself splits in the floor of the mouth
  • ^ Monkeyland. "Bushbaby - Galago moholi". Meet Our Primates. Monkeyland Primate Sanctuary. Archived from the original on 2007-10-22. Retrieved 2008-02-13. equipped with a second, pointy tongue underneath their normal one
  • ^ Niles' Register, June 13, 1829
  • ^ Foster, Thomas Flournoy (1830). Speech on the Bill to Provide for the Removal of the Indians, West of the Mississippi: Delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States, May 17, 1830. D. Green. p. 11.
  • ^ Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Society, Vol. 19, 1859, p. 230.
  • ^ Andrewes, Lancelot (1632-01-01). XCVI. Sermons. R. Badger.
  • ^ Milton, John; Rice, John (1766-01-01). Paradise Lost ... With notes of various authors, by John Rice. London.

  • Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Forked_tongue&oldid=1159068993"

    Categories: 
    Deception
    Sensory organs in animals
    Tongue
    Hidden categories: 
    Articles with short description
    Short description matches Wikidata
    All articles with unsourced statements
    Articles with unsourced statements from January 2020
    Articles with unsourced statements from April 2018
     



    This page was last edited on 8 June 2023, at 01:33 (UTC).

    Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.



    Privacy policy

    About Wikipedia

    Disclaimers

    Contact Wikipedia

    Code of Conduct

    Developers

    Statistics

    Cookie statement

    Mobile view



    Wikimedia Foundation
    Powered by MediaWiki