Of Nine Inch Tongues

Recently my family and a friends family went to the Santa Barbara Zoo. One of the workers there asked if any of us wanted to feed a Giraffe. So, I think it cost 4 dollars to feed a giraffe so my wife and my friend's wife fed the Giraffe romaine lettuce which the lady giraffe really liked. Though the Zoo caretaker said she had an 18 inch tongue(the giraffe) 9 inches of it comes out of her mouth and then rolls up into her mouth with the piece of romaine lettuce.

Though I had written of Arcane whose Earth human evolved humans over time evolved through genetic engineering into amphibians(can breathe water or air) and also developed tongues that extended beyond their mouths 9 inches. If you want to read about Arcane and his civilization on the planet New Deva around 1million years into the future of human colonization of other planets and dimensions here is the first part. (All 7 web pages and 11 parts are at the dragonofcompasssion.com address.

http://dragonofcompassion.com/memories_part_1

However, this was the first time I had ever seen any earth creature that could extend its tongue 9 inches beyond its mouth and then roll up whatever it took with its prehensile tongue that was a mammal.

As I watched the Zoo caretaker and my wife and my friend's wife feeding romaine lettuce by placing it on a tongue that could curl up into its mouth after taking either lettuce high tree leaves or whatever it was presently eating off trees or bushes I was amazed what a prehensile tongue could do.

I'm not sure whether prehensile is the correct word. However, a giraffe has an incredible range of things it can do with it's tongue.

note: the word prehensile is usually refering to tails of monkeys. From wikipedia under the heading "prehensile" I found:

A prehensile tail is the tail of an animal that has adapted to be able to grasp and/or hold objects. Fully prehensile tails can be used to hold and manipulate objects, and in particular to aid arboreal creatures in finding and eating food in the trees. end quote.

So, since it usually refers to tails I'm using the word prehensile in a new context in referring to a tongue that has more control and usage than the tongues of most mammals on earth. end note.