Why do some animals have specialized tongues?

Many animals have evolved specialized tongues to help them capture food, communicate, or interact with their environment. For example, chameleons have long, sticky tongues that they can shoot out to catch prey from a distance. Anteaters have long, narrow tongues covered in sticky saliva, which they use to reach deep into ant mounds and consume ants or termites. The proboscis of a butterfly is a coiled tongue used for feeding on nectar, while some mammals, like giraffes, use their tongues to reach high branches for leaves.