This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2009) |
Prehensility is the quality of an appendage or organ that has adapted for grasping or holding. The word is derived from the Latin term prehendere, meaning "to grasp". The ability to grasp is likely derived from a number of different origins. The most common are tree-climbing and the need to manipulate food.
Examples
Appendages that can become prehensile include:
| Hands and feet |
| |
| Tails |
| |
| Tongue |
| |
| Nose |
| |
| Lip or lips |
| |
| Tentacles |
| |
Uses
Prehensility affords animals a great natural advantage in manipulating their environment for feeding, climbing, digging, and defense. It enables many animals, such as primates, to use tools to complete tasks that would otherwise be impossible without highly specialized anatomy. For example, chimpanzees have the ability to use sticks to obtain termites and grubs in a manner similar to human fishing. However, not all prehensile organs are applied to tool use; the giraffe tongue, for instance, is instead used in feeding and self-cleaning.
See also
- Robot end effector
References
- Böhmer, Christine; Fabre, Anne-Claire; Taverne, Maxime; Herbin, Marc; Peigné, Stéphane; Herrel, Anthony (2019-04-27). "Functional relationship between myology and ecology in carnivores: do forelimb muscles reflect adaptations to prehension?". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 127 (3): 661–680. doi:10.1093/biolinnean/blz036. ISSN 0024-4066.
- Silvio Renesto, Justin A.; Spielmann, Spencer G. Lucas; Spagnoli, Giorgio Tarditi (2010). "The taxonomy and paleobiology of the Late Triassic (Carnian-Norian: Adamanian-Apachean) drepanosaurs (Diapsida: Archosauromorpha: Drepanosauromorpha)". New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin. 46: 1–81.
- Fröbisch, Jörg; Reisz, Robert R. (2009). "The Late Permian herbivore Suminia and the early evolution of arboreality in terrestrial vertebrate ecosystems". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 276 (1673) (Online first ed.): 3611–3618. doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.0911. PMC 2817304. PMID 19640883.
This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Prehensility news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2009 Learn how and when to remove this message Prehensility is the quality of an appendage or organ that has adapted for grasping or holding The word is derived from the Latin term prehendere meaning to grasp The ability to grasp is likely derived from a number of different origins The most common are tree climbing and the need to manipulate food A prehensile tailGiraffe s prehensile tongueExamplesThis section is in list format but may read better as prose You can help by converting this section if appropriate Editing help is available October 2018 Appendages that can become prehensile include Hands and feet The hands of primates are all prehensile to varying degrees The front paws of raccoons and many of their relatives are prehensile The feet of passerine birds can be prehensileTails New World monkeys have prehensile tails Tails of many extant lizards geckos chameleons and a species of skink are prehensile Seahorses grip seaweed with their tails Several fossil animals have been interpreted as having prehensile tails including several Late Triassic drepanosaurs and possibly the Late Permian synapsid Suminia Tongue Giraffes tongues in particular are prehensile Some other ungulates tongues are also prehensile to a lesser extentNose The noses of elephants and tapirs are prehensileLip or lips Lips of lake sturgeon orangutans horses and rhinos Upper lip of the West Indian manateeTentacles Arms of octopuses squid and the cirri of nautiluses To a limited extent the tentacles of sea anemones hydra and a few other invertebrates can grasp and move objectsUses source source source source source source source source Human feet prehensility example done with everyday objects Prehensility affords animals a great natural advantage in manipulating their environment for feeding climbing digging and defense It enables many animals such as primates to use tools to complete tasks that would otherwise be impossible without highly specialized anatomy For example chimpanzees have the ability to use sticks to obtain termites and grubs in a manner similar to human fishing However not all prehensile organs are applied to tool use the giraffe tongue for instance is instead used in feeding and self cleaning See alsoRobot end effectorReferencesBohmer Christine Fabre Anne Claire Taverne Maxime Herbin Marc Peigne Stephane Herrel Anthony 2019 04 27 Functional relationship between myology and ecology in carnivores do forelimb muscles reflect adaptations to prehension Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 127 3 661 680 doi 10 1093 biolinnean blz036 ISSN 0024 4066 Silvio Renesto Justin A Spielmann Spencer G Lucas Spagnoli Giorgio Tarditi 2010 The taxonomy and paleobiology of the Late Triassic Carnian Norian Adamanian Apachean drepanosaurs Diapsida Archosauromorpha Drepanosauromorpha New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 46 1 81 Frobisch Jorg Reisz Robert R 2009 The Late Permian herbivore Suminia and the early evolution of arboreality in terrestrial vertebrate ecosystems Proceedings of the Royal Society B 276 1673 Online first ed 3611 3618 doi 10 1098 rspb 2009 0911 PMC 2817304 PMID 19640883
