Asked by: Anonymous
Most fish have a bony structure called the basihyal on the floor of the mouth that superficially resembles a tongue. But it doesn’t have taste buds, isn’t muscular and has very little range of motion, so it isn’t directly equivalent. It probably originally evolved to protect the ventral aorta, which lies very close to the mouth, from impacts with large, wriggly food.
Read more:
Subscribe to BBC Focus magazine for fascinating new Q&As every month and follow @sciencefocusQA on Twitter for your daily dose of fun science facts.
