A forked 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. Sensing from both sides of the head and following trails based on chemical cues is called tropotaxis^[1]. It is unclear whether or not 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 for 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, chose mates, locate shelters, follow trails, and more^[9].

Forked tongues have evolved multiple times in Squamates. It is unclear, based on the morphological and genetic evidence, where the exact points of change from a notched tongue to a forked tongue, but it is believed that the change has happened two to fours times^[10][11]. A common behavioral characteristic that has evolved in those with forked tongues is that they tend to be wide foragers^[12][13].

The phrase "speaks with a forked tongue" means to say one thing and mean another or, to be hypocritical, or act in a duplicitous manner.

Native American oral history tells that Ben Franklin's political cartoon turned military banner of a severed snake entitled Join, or Die, sought to create a Union to "manage Indian relations" and depicted fractured colonial support for Native American suppression leading up to the French & Indian War/Seven Years War. Join, or Die, and the subsequent serpent flag Don't Tread on Me became the dominant spirit image of the white man in the Native American psyche, and the expression "white man speaks with forked tongue" is said to originate from these symbols that flew during Native American massacres. The first known quotation of this phrase is by Chief Joseph (1840-1904) of the Nez Perce, whose peaceful people suffered under broken treaties and deleterious US policies.

Hummingbirds also have tongues that split at the tip.^[14] Galagos (bushbabies) have a secondary tongue, or sublingua, used for grooming, hidden under their first.^[15]

[edit] See also

• Doublespeak
• Tongue splitting (a surgical procedure)

[edit] References

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