How Does The Tongue Work?

The tongue is composed of skeletal muscle fibers. Unlike the cardiac muscle or smooth muscle of the organs and digestive system, skeletal muscle can be willingly controlled. This allows for the tongue's mobility. The muscles that lace throughout the organ secure it to surrounding bones and create the floor of the oral cavity. Mucous membrane covers the skeletal muscle and protects the body from microbes and pathogens. The eight muscles of the human tongue are classified as either intrinsic or extrinsic. The four intrinsic muscles act to change the shape of the tongue, and are not attached to any bone. People have made it a myth that the tongue is the strongest muscle in the human body, but this is not true. The tongue is known to be the "strongest" muscle in the body because it never gets tires, it helps you speak and eat. Some people say this myth arose because the tongue never gets tired, it never takes breaks. People usually think the tongue is the strongest muscle but the tongue isn’t a single muscle. It’s actually made up of eight different muscles. In the intrinsic group there are transverse bands, superior longitudinal bands, inferior longitudinal bands, vertical bands. In the extrinsic group there are genioglossus the majority of the tongue, hyoglossus, palatoglossus supplied by pharyngeal plexus, styloglossuss. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Co_hxr13fk