Original photo by sruilk/ Shutterstock
When detectives investigate a crime scene in any prime-time cop drama, they’re often on the hunt for one thing: fingerprints. Because these intricate patterns of whorls and lines are exclusive to each individual, fingerprints have been a go-to method for tracking down suspects for more than a century. However, our fingerprints are not unique when it comes to being, well, unique. Our tongues, like our fingerprints, are also specific to each individual. That’s right — people have tongue prints, which vary from one person to another due to both shape and texture. And perhaps surprisingly, the organ has been gaining some popularity as a method for biometric authentication.
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It's a fibThe world’s fastest tongue belongs to the 2-inch-long rosette-nosed chameleon (Rhampholeon spinosus), whose tongue can accelerate at an astounding 1.6 miles per seconds squared. Smaller chameleons have faster tongues in part because their high metabolisms mean they eat more often.
Where fingerprints can be altered, eyes affected by astigmatisms or cataracts, and voices changed just by the all-too-common cold, the human tongue is relatively protected from external factors. Sticking out one’s tongue for a print also involves a layer of conscious control and consent that goes beyond what’s required for retinal scans or even fingerprinting, which could make it a more appealing biometric tool for some. In fact, these “lingual impressions” may be so advantageous over other forms of authentication that some researchers have started investigating the idea of a tongue print database, using high-resolution digital cameras to record every ridge, line, and contour of that muscular organ in our mouths. Although promising, this research is in its early stages — meaning that “lick to unlock” won’t be an iPhone feature any time soon.
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The ______ were the first to use fingerprints as a means of identification.
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The Chinese were the first to use fingerprints as a means of identification.
Tongue rolling isn’t a genetic trait.
Whether it was in a biology class or from a friend, you’ve likely heard the story that tongue rolling ― that is, forming your tongue in the shape of a “u” — is a genetic trait (shared by an estimated 65% to 81% of people). Although that may seem plausible at first, the genetic explanation of tongue-rolling is actually a persistent myth, and one still found in some biology textbooks today. The idea dates back to 1940, when geneticist Alfred Sturtevant suggested that tongue-rolling was a Mendelian trait — meaning the ability isn’t a combination of parental genes but instead inherited from one parent or the other. However, a study in 1952 involving 33 identical twins (who share the same genetic makeup) found that seven pairs didn’t share the same tongue-rolling trait. Other studies have found that two non-rolling parents can produce offspring who can roll their tongue, suggesting that the “skill” isn’t simply genetics. Sturtevant eventually retracted the idea, yet the myth lives on.
Darren Orf lives in Portland, has a cat, and writes about all things science and climate. You can find his previous work at Popular Mechanics, Inverse, Gizmodo, and Paste, among others.
