|
|
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008) |
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."
Examples
Appendages that can become prehensile include:
- Prehensile feet have evolved many times across many different species
- Prehensile tails – Many extant lizards have prehensile tails (geckos, chameleons, and a species of skink). The fossil record shows prehensile tails in lizards (Simiosauria) going back many million years to the Triassic period (Celeskey, 2005).[citation needed]
- Tongue – of giraffes in particular
- Nose – elephants and tapirs
- Lips – Lake Sturgeon and horses and rhinos
Prehensility is an adaptation that has afforded species a great natural advantage in manipulating their environment for feeding, digging, and defense. It enables many animals, such as primates, to use tools in order 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 not dissimilar 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 behaviors.
Notes
| Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (November 2009) |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)




