longtongued

Longtongued is an English adjective used to describe something that has a long tongue relative to body size or to the mouth opening. The term is more commonly written as long-tongued or long tongued; as a single word, longtongued is rare and may appear in informal writing or in compound names. In scientific writing, hyphenation (long-tongued) is typically preferred for clarity.

In biology, long tongues are common adaptations across a range of taxa. Long tongues aid feeding, grooming, or probing into crevices. Examples include anteaters, which have exceptionally long tongues for collecting ants and termites; hummingbirds and nectar-feeding birds with extensible tongues for lapping nectar; and reptiles such as chameleons that project long tongues to capture prey. In other animals, a tongue that is long relative to body size can influence feeding efficiency, sensory exploration, or grooming behaviors.

In human usage, the phrase is rarely used to describe people. When it appears in literature or folklore, long-tongued may be used metaphorically to evoke loquaciousness or talkativeness, but this is not standard in medical or technical writing. The term is primarily encountered in natural history, zoological descriptions, or informal descriptions of anatomy.

See also: Tongue, Anatomy of the tongue, Feeding adaptations, Animal morphology.