Yes, dolphins, like most mammals, are born with tongues. In fact, whales, dolphins, and porpoises are all part of the cetacean family, and they all possess tongues.
Although dolphins have tongues for a long time, researchers and marine biologists stated that it was unknown as to whether or not dolphins were able to taste their food; however, recent scientific studies and observations at marine parks have shown that dolphins do have taste buds and can detect taste to a certain degree.
While not much is known about a dolphin’s sense of taste or the extent to which a dolphin can taste its food, they have been seen showing preferences in the types of foods they enjoy when fed fish at marine parks aquariums.
Dolphins such as the bottlenose dolphin have also been shown to detect citric acid, among other chemicals. When fed foods with citric in them, the bottlenose dolphin displayed characteristics indicating their ability to taste citric acids. Aside from being used to taste food, their tongue also plays a vital role in helping these marine mammals consume food.
Babies dolphins suckle milk from their mother’s nipple, and some baby dolphins may use their tongue to form a seal around the nipple to prevent the milk from escaping. As these marine mammals grow older, their tongues help them break apart the food in the mouth and provide assistance with swallowing.
When we humans swallow our food, our tongue plays a strong role in breaking our food up and moving the food to the back of our throat to go down the esophagus and into the stomach. This same process can also help dolphins swallow their food in the same manner.
Most dolphin species have a long, thin tongue that often appears pink in color in terms of appearance. Even though dolphins have relatively long tongues, they cannot extend their tongue beyond a certain extent. Dolphins can also not use their tongue to communicate the way humans do as they do not possess vocal cords and cannot breathe through their mouths.
To communicate with sound, dolphins make sounds using their blowhole by contracting and flexing their sphincter muscles rather than using their tongues. When communicating, dolphins can be heard using a series of clicks and whistles in a unique frequency to that specific dolphin.
These unique frequencies allow dolphins to detect which dolphin is communicating while in a group or pod and are especially useful when dolphins are in large groups where it can be difficult to spot a particular family member or friend.
As stated earlier, dolphins do not breathe through their mouth. This is because their food passage and air passage are completely separated. By having their nostrils (blowhole) placed on the top of their head, dolphins can breathe more effectively as they do not need to lift their head completely out of the water to obtain oxygen.
Perhaps more importantly, dolphins can consume food underwater without accidentally taking water into their lungs when hunting for prey.