Have you ever seen a snake flick its forked tongue? Scientists — going back to ancient Greece — have theorized a variety of reasons for why snakes perform this strange tongue dance, hypothesizing about its role in enhanced taste, grooming, or fly-catching. Turns out, it's none of these things — snakes actually use their tongues to smell. Snakes have limited hearing and eyesight compared to humans, but they make up for it with an incredible sense of smell. Although they do detect scent through their nostrils, they can also use a pair of vomeronasal organs located at the roof of their mouth to follow smells. A snake flicks its forked tongue to create eddies of odor particles in the air, then transports them back to its mouth with its tongue tips, delivering scent to each organ. This allows the snake to not only smell its surroundings, but also discern in what direction a certain smell is strongest. Some scientists have described this process as "smelling in stereo." When a snake is on the move, especially when hunting, it'll flick its tongue once per second (or more) to stay on the trail of its prey. | 
