[Animals] Mystery solved: this is why some animals have blue tongues

[#Steeven.™]

Few animals have this characteristic, which is due to natural selection processes.

Few animal species, especially mammals, have blue, lavender, or purple tongues; but there is much curiosity that this characteristic causes in scientists, since this organ is highly vascular, which causes its pink or red color and that it is blue can be a symptom of health problems in some organisms.

Although it is known how the substance that causes this color on the tongue, melanin, works, it has not been possible to determine exactly its biological usefulness in the digestive organ. These are some hypotheses depending on each species.

For example, the giraffe is the tallest land mammal on the planet and is a herbivore. According to biologists, its blue tongue is due to the fact that since this mammal uses it to uproot the shoots that grow in the treetops, this higher amount of melanin on its tongue protects it from dangerous ultraviolet rays and their consequences in the organisms.

Due to or previous, experts consider that the blue color of its tongue, produced by the melanin present, is due to natural selection processes of this species to ensure its survival over the years.

However, there is another process that could lead to a blue tongue. This is the case of the Chinese breed of dog Chow Chow, which would have the tongue and all the mouth blue or purple due to artificial selection processes carried out by humans in search of a special characteristic in said breed of dogs.