Forked tongue

[citation needed] Sensing from both sides of the head and following trails based on chemical cues is called tropotaxis.

The advantage to having a forked tongue is that more surface area is available for the chemicals to contact and the potential for tropotaxis.

[1][9] A common behavioral characteristic that has evolved in those with forked tongues is that they tend to be wide foragers.

"[citation needed] This phrase was also adopted by Americans around the time of the Revolution, and may be found in abundant references from the early 19th century—often reporting on American officers who sought to convince the tribal leaders with whom they negotiated that they "spoke with a straight and not with a forked tongue" (as for example, President Andrew Jackson told the Creek Nation in 1829[13][14]).

According to one 1859 account, the native proverb that the "white man spoke with a forked tongue" originated as a result of the French tactic of the 1690s, in their war with the Iroquois, of inviting their enemies to attend a peace conference, only to be slaughtered or captured.