{"id":42084,"date":"2024-09-22T12:43:48","date_gmt":"2024-09-22T10:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/234c8857-bf65-4776-af6f-1917658218fe"},"modified":"2024-09-22T13:27:33","modified_gmt":"2024-09-22T11:27:33","slug":"just-what-are-the-point-of-whisker-why-animals-have-whiskers-and-how-they-work","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/just-what-are-the-point-of-whisker-why-animals-have-whiskers-and-how-they-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Just what are the point of whisker? Why animals have whiskers and how they work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why do animals have whiskers? And how do whiskers work? We explain <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Sunday, 22 September 2024 at 10:43 AM<\/p>

\n\n

What are whiskers?<\/h2>

Whiskers are modified hairs (formally known as ‘vibrissae’) that form specialised touch organs, found at some stage in the life of all mammals except monotremes<\/a> (duck-billed platypus and echidnas<\/a>) and humans, though we still have vestiges of the muscles once associated with vibrissae in our upper lips.<\/p>

Where do whiskers grow?<\/h2>

Whiskers typically grow around the nostrils and above the lips and eyes, but also on the forelegs and feet of some mammals. Manatees have them all over the head and body, but in most mammals they form an ordered pattern.<\/p>

Rats \u2013 whose whiskers are the best-studied \u2013 have five rows on either side of the snout, each comprising five to nine vibrissae: shorter microvibrissae at the front, longer macrovibrissae at the rear, a little under 1mm in diameter at the base, tapering to an extremely narrow tip. In contrast, seals\u2019 whiskers<\/a> <\/strong>are much stiffer and do not taper.<\/p>

Adult male walrus showing off its impressive whiskers. \u00a9 Paul Souders\/Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Vibrissae can be very long: up to 50mm in rats, and one-third of a chinchilla\u2019s body length. The whiskers of many carnivores, particularly aquatic and nocturnal species, are also very prominent.<\/p>

How do whiskers work?<\/strong><\/h2>

So, how do they work? In essence, they function like an old-fashioned gramophone stylus. As whiskers brush an object, irregularities in the surface are translated into movements of the vibrissae; those, in turn, are detected by hundreds of motion sensors inside a heavily innervated hair follicle \u2013 rats and cats have 100\u2013200 nerve cells per whisker, seals up to 1,500.<\/p>

These nerves relay detailed information about the direction, velocity and duration of vibrissal movement, thereby allowing the animal to detect the precise location, size, texture and other details of the object.<\/p>

\"\"
A pet rat with very visible whiskers. \u00a9 Mike Schultz\/EyeEm\/Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>

In some mammals, individual muscles allow macrovibrissae around the nose to be moved independently, whereas those elsewhere on the body cannot; neither can microvibrissae. Larger muscles move all of the whiskers together by changing the position or shape of the whisker pad.<\/p>

Small rodents exhibit rapid whisker movements \u2013 in fact, the \u2018whisking\u2019 motions of rats are the fastest of any mammal.<\/p>

By contrast, in larger rodents, lagomorphs and some carnivores, such \u2018vibrations\u2019 (the name derives from the Latin vibrare) are sporadic; bats, ungulates, primates and cetaceans make few whisker movements.<\/p>

More wildlife questions answered<\/h4>