Тілмен лаулау әрекеті және оның мақсаты

Action of passing the tongue over a surface

Licking is the action of passing the tongue over a surface, typically either to deposit saliva onto the surface, or to collect liquid, food or minerals onto the tongue for ingestion, or to communicate with other animals. Many animals both groom themselves, eat or drink by licking.

Ring tailed lemurs lick each other's babies as a means of collective grooming and of reinforcing social cohesion within the community. Macaques and other primates lick leaves for water in addition to dipping their arms into tree crevices and licking the water off. Chimpanzees use licking in a variety of ways: licking objects, such as dead trees, that others in their community have licked, licking each other's body parts for grooming and sex Gorillas use licking in addition to other senses to determine the nature of an object.

Compared to most other mammals, licking has a minor role for humans. The human tongue is relatively short and inflexible, and is not well adapted for either grooming or drinking. Instead, humans prefer to wash themselves using their hands and drink by sucking or pouring fluid into their mouth. Humans have much less hair over their skin than most other mammals, and much of that hair is in places which they cannot reach with their own mouth. The presence of sweat glands all over the human body makes licking as a cooling method unnecessary. Nonetheless, licking does play a role for humans. Even though humans cannot effectively drink water by licking, the human tongue is quite sufficient for licking more viscous fluids. Some foods are sold in a form intended to be consumed mainly by licking, e. g. ice cream cones and lollipops. Though useful, in some cultures it is considered improper table manners to clean one's fingers by licking during a meal. Some people in the Afar tribe of Ethiopia have been reported to have used their tongues to lick other humans, as a way of cleaning them from the dust that accumulates on them in a very water scarce region. Humans use licking for a number of other purposes. For example, licking can moisten the adhesive surfaces of stamps or envelopes. Many people lick a fingertip (usually the one of the index finger) for some extra grip when turning a page, taking a sheet of paper from the top of a pile or opening a plastic bag. In sewing, thread ends are commonly wet by licking to make the fibres stick together and thus make threading them through the eye of a needle easier. Another practice considered uncivilized is licking one's hand and using it to groom one's hair. Humans also use their tongues for sexual purposes, such as during cunnilingus, anilingus, fellatio, breast licking, foot licking, and whilst French kissing, where two people lick each other's tongues.

Self licking can sometimes become abnormally frequent occasionally resulting in a lick granuloma. The most common cause of lick granuloma appears to be psychological, related to stress, anxiety, separation anxiety, boredom, or compulsiveness. Lick granulomae are especially seen in active dogs left alone for long periods of time. One theory is that excessive licking causes endorphin release, which reduces pain and makes the dog feel temporarily euphoric. This provides the animal with positive feedback from the licking, and subsequent addiction to the behaviour. Animals in captivity sometimes develop a licking stereotypy during which surfaces (walls, bars, gates, etc.) are repeatedly licked for no apparent reason. This has been observed in captive giraffes and camels.