Tongue Facts for Kids

A Picture of the Human Tongue
  • Organ Name: Tongue
  • Organ Location: Interior of the mouth
  • Organ System: Digestive and gustatory systems
  • Organ Purpose: Taste foods and breakdown food
  • Organ TA ID: A05.1.04.001
  • Organ FMA ID: 54640

18 Tongue Facts for Kids

  1. The tongue is an organ located in the human mouth.
  2. The tongue is muscular organ that is part of the human gustatory and digestive systems.
  3. The top of the tongue has taste receptor cells (tastants) that allow you to taste the food you’re eating.
  4. The tongue helps crush and soften food before it’s swallowed.
  5. The tongue helps you make sounds and speak.
  6. The average size of an adult male tongue is 3.3 inches.
  7. The average size of an adult female tongue is 3.1 inches.
  8. The tongue has two groups of muscles and they are the intrinsic muscles and the extrinsic muscles.
  9. There are four intrinsic muscles and they allow you to change the shape of your tongue.
  10. There are four extrinsic muscles and they allow you to change the position of your tongue.
  11. The human tongue has between two and four thousand taste buds.
  12. A taste bud is made up of between 50 and 150 receptor cells.
  13. The receptors cells can taste different flavors, like bitter, salty, savory, sour and sweet.
  14. The primarily blood supply for the tongue comes from the lingual artery.
  15. Just like your fingerprints, no two humans have the exact same tongue.
  16. The world record for the longest tongue belongs to Nick Stoeberl with a length of 3.97 inches.
  17. The Foundational Model of Anatomy ID for the stomach is 54640.
  18. The Terminologia Anatomica ID for the stomach is A05.1.04.001.

Additional Resources on the Human Tongue

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