Morphological description of the tongue of the Boa constrictor
Thamara Cozzi Gonçalves, Isabella Bittencourt Pires Chaves, Rogério Antonio Ribeiro Rodrigues, Elane Guerreiro Giese, Érika Branco, Ana Rita de Lima · 2026
Read Morphological description of the tongue of the Boa constrictor by Thamara Cozzi Gonçalves, Isabella Bittencourt Pires Chaves, Rogério Antonio Ribeiro Rodrigues, Elane Guerreiro Giese, Érika Branco, Ana Rita de Lima (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13152927.txt.
Description
Thamara Cozzi Goncalves and co-authors describe the tongue of the boa constrictor in fine detail in a 2026 anatomy study. The snake is widespread in Brazil and ecologically important, yet its tongue structure was little documented. Four snakes found dead after road accidents were examined by eye, by tissue slides, and by scanning electron microscopy.
The tongue is long, forked, and smooth, with no visible bumps or center groove to the naked eye. The microscope did reveal a groove along the body. Tissue showed a layered skin with slight hardening over connective tissue and muscle bundles. No taste buds, bumps, or saliva glands were found, fitting the tongue's scent gathering role in snakes.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Thamara Cozzi Gonçalves, Isabella Bittencourt Pires Chaves, Rogério Antonio Ribeiro Rodrigues, Elane Guerreiro Giese, Érika Branco, Ana Rita de Lima |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 16 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |