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

A diagram showing the taste buds on the human tongue.Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

A picture showing the bottom of the human tongue.Credit: oralhealth

A picture showing the top of the human tongue.Credit: Patel and Dornhecker Dentistry
Additional Resources on the Human Tongue
- Facts about the Tongue – Read some cool tongue facts and information on the LiveScience website.
- Tongue Issues and Problems – Discover some of the issues and problems that affect the tongue on the Medline Plus website.
- Tongue – Britannica – Learn more things you didn’t know about the human tongue on the Britannica website.
- Tongue – Wikipedia – Find more awesome facts about the human tongue on the Wikipedia website.