What Is the Weight of a Tongue?

For an adult human, the tongue typically weighs about 60–70 grams (roughly 2.1–2.5 ounces), though individual values can vary with body size, sex, hydration, and health. In animals, the range is far wider—pork and beef tongues, for example, can weigh hundreds of grams to well over a kilogram.

Understanding “Tongue Weight” in Humans

The tongue is a muscular hydrostat made up of interwoven intrinsic and extrinsic muscles. Because muscle is close to the density of water, researchers often estimate tongue weight by measuring its volume and equating 1 milliliter of volume to about 1 gram of mass. Most healthy adult human tongues fall near the 60–70 gram range, with some individuals above or below that depending on anatomy and physiology.

How Scientists Measure Tongue Weight

Directly weighing a living tongue isn’t practical, so clinicians and researchers rely on imaging and anatomical proxies to estimate mass. The approaches below are commonly used in studies and clinical planning.

1. MRI-based volumetry: Magnetic resonance imaging maps the tongue in three dimensions; segmenting the tongue and calculating its volume allows a mass estimate by assuming tissue density near 1 g/mL.
2. Cadaver studies: Anatomical dissections provide direct mass measurements, forming baseline references for average adult tongue weights used in textbooks and teaching.
3. CT or 3D imaging with segmentation: In select clinical contexts, computed tomography or 3D ultrasound can approximate tongue volume, again converted to mass via tissue density.
4. Anthropometric scaling: Researchers correlate tongue size with body size, craniofacial dimensions, and sex to model expected volume and mass in populations.

Taken together, these methods converge on a consistent picture: adult human tongues are generally in the mid–double-digit grams, with predictable variation related to body and craniofacial size.

What Influences an Individual Tongue’s Weight

While most adults cluster around the typical range, several biological and medical factors can shift tongue mass up or down.

• Body size and sex: Larger bodies and males tend to have larger, heavier tongues on average.
• Craniofacial anatomy: Jaw size and oral cavity dimensions correlate with tongue volume, affecting mass estimates.
• Hydration and edema: Fluid status can transiently increase tongue volume (and apparent weight).
• Age: Tongue composition and muscle tone change with age, modestly affecting volume.
• Medical conditions: Macroglossia (enlarged tongue), acromegaly, hypothyroidism, and certain genetic syndromes can increase tongue size; atrophy or neuromuscular disease can reduce it.
• Functional use and conditioning: Habitual demands (speech, swallowing) influence muscle tone, though long-term effects on mass are typically modest compared with anatomy and health factors.

These influences explain why two people of the same height can still have different tongue masses—local anatomy and health status matter as much as overall body size.

Animal Tongues: A Sense of Scale

Outside humans, tongue weights vary dramatically by species. Culinary and anatomical references offer practical approximations for common livestock tongues.

• Beef tongue: Typically about 0.8–1.8 kilograms (1.8–4.0 pounds), depending on breed and animal size.
• Pork tongue: Commonly around 0.2–0.4 kilograms (7–14 ounces).
• Lamb tongue: Often in the 40–70 gram range (1.4–2.5 ounces) per tongue.

These values reflect typical edible tongue masses and illustrate how species size drives tongue weight; wild and companion animals show similarly broad variation.

Why Tongue Mass Matters

Tongue size and mass have practical implications in speech, swallowing, dentistry, and sleep medicine. In obstructive sleep apnea, for example, a relatively large tongue volume within a small oral cavity can narrow the airway, increasing collapse risk during sleep. Accurate estimates of tongue volume help clinicians plan therapy, assess surgical candidacy, and fit oral appliances.

Key Takeaway

In humans, the tongue generally weighs about 60–70 grams, with normal variation driven by body size, craniofacial anatomy, hydration, and health. Animal tongues span a much wider range, from tens of grams in small ruminants to more than a kilogram in cattle.

Summary

The human tongue is a compact, muscle-dense organ whose mass typically falls near 60–70 grams in healthy adults. Researchers estimate this using imaging-derived volume and tissue density. Individual differences arise from anatomy, sex, age, hydration, and medical conditions, while animal tongues vary widely by species and body size.

What is the average tongue weight?

Most experts agree that an acceptable tongue weight for any trailer is somewhere between 9 and 15 percent of the gross trailer weight (GTW). There’s good reasoning behind these numbers, too. It all comes down to trailer towing safety.

What is the heaviest weight lifted by a human tongue?

The heaviest weight lifted by the human tongue is 13 kg (28 lb 10.5 oz), achieved by Thomas Blackthorne (UK) on the set of Lo Show Dei Record in Milan, Italy, on February 22, 2022. The weight was attached to a custom hook that pierced his tongue, which he then lifted to set the Guinness World Record. 
Details of the record: 

• Weight: 13 kg (28 lb 10.5 oz)
• Record Holder: Thomas Blackthorne (UK)
• Date: February 22, 2022
• Method: A specially made hook was inserted through a piercing in Blackthorne’s tongue to hold the weight.

How the feat was achieved: 

• Extensive Training: Blackthorne trained for years, strengthening the muscles of his tongue to perform this difficult feat.
• Precision and Balance: He developed excellent technique to position and balance the weight securely, minimizing the risk of injury.
• Specialized Equipment: A custom-made hook was used to securely attach the weight to his tongue.
• Neck and Jaw Strength: In addition to his tongue, Blackthorne’s neck and jaw muscles also worked to stabilize and lift the weight.

Thomas Blackthorne has set this record multiple times, breaking his own previous records on different Guinness World Records TV shows, including an initial lift of 11.025 kg (24 lb 3 oz) in 2004.

How heavy is a tongue?

How much does a tongue weigh? According to my research the average man’s tongue weighs 3.5 ounces. The average woman’s tongue weighs 2.8 ounces. Taking a 150 lb man, that means his tongue is only 0.14 % of his body weight.

What is the heaviest tongue in the world?

The heaviest tongue of any animal is that of the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), which typically weighs 4 tonnes (8,818 lb) – similar to the total body weight of an adult elephant!