Inside of a Penguins Mouth (All You Need To Know)

When was the last time you looked inside a penguin’s mouth? ! These adorable birds have something really scary inside them that looks more like something out of a sci-fi or horror movie.

But of course, there’s a logical explanation – what’s going on in the penguin’s mouth?

Penguins have distinct growths in their mouths called papillae, which look like spikes. These spines cover the tongue and base, as well as the roof of the mouth. They’re made of relatively soft keratin – the same structure that makes up human nails and hair – and they’re not particularly sharp!

Mastoids are not unique to penguins. In fact, many animals have tiny papillae on their tongues, including humans. The rough tongue helps the animal grab food and get it into the mouth, which is pretty much what penguins use their papillae for.

Of course, that doesn’t tell the whole story – read on to find out more!

A glimpse inside the open beak of a king penguin

What’s inside a penguin’s mouth?

Penguins have large, distinctive spines called papillae in their mouths. The word “papillae” simply means “little protrusions,” but for penguins, they’re actually quite large.

These papillae cover most of the penguin’s mouth, including the roof and bottom of the mouth, the sides and the tongue. Most animals have papillae — including humans.

These rough protrusions contain the taste buds and give the tongue its rough surface. Imagine if the tongue were smooth – it would be difficult to get food into the mouth.

Open-mouthed penguin with papillae inside the mouth

The unique shape of a penguin’s nipple has evolved as a result of its diet. Like all birds, penguins don’t have teeth like mammals, but many have protrusions that help them swallow or filter food. For example, ducks have papillae that help them filter food from water and aquatic plants.

For penguins and other seabirds, which feed primarily on fish and other sea life, their mouths protrude greatly because fish are slippery. They grab the fish with their tongues and spines in their mouths, and guide the fish down their throats.

You’ll notice that all the spines are facing away from the throat – this allows the penguin to grab the fish and keep it from sliding away.

The more and larger the papillae, the more efficient the penguin is at swallowing greasy food.

Gentoo penguin with open mouth

What are the spines in a penguin’s mouth?

The spines in a penguin’s mouth are called papillae. They may look creepy and worrisome, but they’re structurally similar to the papillae in our mouths, which give our tongues their rough texture.

Penguins and other seabirds have oversized papillae that help them grab slippery prey and swallow them whole. Like all birds, penguins have no teeth.

These particular adaptations make eating easier for people without teeth, allowing them to grab food and guide it up the esophagus so they can swallow it whole. The spines also help gather small prey such as algae, plankton and small shrimp.

There’s nothing unusual about a penguin’s mouth. Exaggerated papillae are found in the mouths of many different animals, especially those that draw their food from the water, such as turtles, fish, and some whales.

Chinstrap penguin looking for fish in water in Antarctica

Why do penguins have weird mouths?

Like all birds, penguins have a beak with a tough outer layer of keratin instead of a mouth.

Their mouths are filled with spiny growths called papillae that help them grab slippery foods like fish and guide them toward their stomachs. Catching raw fish isn’t easy – the penguin’s mouth makes it even harder for the fish to escape!

Penguins, like other birds, have no teeth, but why this is so is not yet known. One of the most widely accepted hypotheses is that teeth are heavy, and that as birds evolved to become efficient in flight, they eventually lost them through evolution.

Another theory is that it takes so long for the teeth to form that the chicks have to feed themselves within a few days of hatching.

For example, juvenile raptors are fed raw meat almost immediately after hatching to help them grow. If the bird has to grow teeth before eating, then this growth period is slowed down.

By giving up the teeth, the baby bird can accelerate growth and give itself a better chance of survival.

Close up of a gentoo penguin feeding a molting chick with cud regurgitated food in the Falkland Islands

Do all penguins have the same mouth?

As far as we know, all penguins have spines in their mouths and tongues, covered with growths called papillae. There are structural differences between their mouths, but they are fundamentally similar.

Penguins aren’t alone here either — papillae are common among filter feeders and seabirds, from flamingos to ducks and geese. You’ll even find large papillae in other filter feeders like turtles and fish.

Do penguins bite?

Penguins are predatory birds that are easy to attack. They are certainly capable of biting and stabbing with their beaks, and the wounds can be quite severe.

Fights between rival penguins can be vicious and bloody, resulting in serious and even fatal wounds. Penguins’ mouths are full of protrusions called papillae, but those aren’t something you need to worry about – penguins’ sharp beaks can do damage.

Emperor penguin chick bites its sibling

Do penguins have a sense of taste?

Birds have different senses of taste, most of which are weak. However, in the case of penguins, this sense of taste is weaker than that of the average person, and studies have shown that they almost completely lack the perception of sweet, bitter and umami (meaty). This leaves them with a sour and salty taste buds.

Penguins swallow their prey whole, and their diet is not particularly diverse, consisting almost entirely of fish and other seafood. Compared to the different omnivorous diets of other birds, penguins’ diets may all taste the same.

However, the study found that it wasn’t a lack of dietary flavor that caused the lack of taste buds, but rather that receptors for other tastes didn’t work as well in cold temperatures. It seems that evolution to cold environments also caused penguins to lose their sense of taste.

African penguin eating fish

What’s in the penguin’s mouth?

Penguins’ mouths are covered with spine-like protrusions called papillae. Papillae are found in the oral cavity of many animals and have two main functions:

• Grabs food and delivers it to mouth.
• Housing cells responsible for the sense of taste; taste buds.

There’s nothing unusual or weird about penguins’ mouths — their papillae help them eat slippery fish and other sea creatures. They help the penguins catch fish, but also help filter out smaller sea life like plankton and algae. Algae, plankton, and other soft foods cling to the papillae, which act as filters.

By gripping food with their spiny tongues and mouths, penguins can effectively pull food back up their esophagus. There is nowhere for the fish to escape from the penguin’s mouth!

The papillae in penguins’ mouths help them grab slippery food like fish and other sea creatures

Penguin Mouth FAQs

Do penguins have teeth?

Penguins and birds are the only group of vertebrates without an anatomical structure defined as teeth. Of course, many other animals don’t have teeth, but when it comes to birds, it’s absolute: no bird has teeth in the mammalian sense.

About 100 million years ago, birds used to have teeth, but lost them during evolution. Therefore, their beaks are more useful than teeth.

Do penguins have tongues?

Like all birds, penguins have tongues. Penguin tongues are usually large and strong, covered with spine-like protrusions called mastoids. These help them grab slippery prey and guide them toward the esophagus so they can swallow them whole.

Do penguins have a gag reflex?

Penguins and other birds don’t have a gag reflex like humans and other mammals, but they can still regurgitate their stomach contents.

If penguins choke, they will get bones and other hard things out.