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Cited by 91Tactile and Sensory InteractionsComparative Animal Anatomy StudiesAdhesion, Friction, and Surface Interactions

The advantages of a tapered whisker

Open access
Williams, Christopher M., Kramer, Eric M.·2010·PLoS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0008806PMC PMC2808387
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Abstract

The role of facial vibrissae (whiskers) in the behavior of terrestrial mammals is principally as a supplement or substitute for short-distance vision. Each whisker in the array functions as a mechanical transducer, conveying forces applied along the shaft to mechanoreceptors in the follicle at the whisker base. Subsequent processing of mechanoreceptor output in the trigeminal nucleus and somatosensory cortex allows high accuracy discriminations of object distance, direction, and surface texture. The whiskers of terrestrial mammals are tapered and approximately circular in cross section. We characterize the taper of whiskers in nine mammal species, measure the mechanical deflection of isolated felid whiskers, and discuss the mechanics of a single whisker under static and oscillatory deflections. We argue that a tapered whisker provides some advantages for tactile perception (as compared to a hypothetical untapered whisker), and that this may explain why the taper has been preserved during the evolution of terrestrial mammals.

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  • Whiskers are truly conical, providing them with extra flexibility and resonant frequencies that are strongly dependent on whisker length, both of which support their sensory function.

    “Whiskers are truly conical, providing them with extra flexibility and resonant frequencies that are strongly dependent on whisker length, both of which support their sensory function [25, 41].”

    From Biomechanics of the Peacock’s Display: How Feather Structure and Resonance Influence Multimodal Signaling (2016) · cites this paper as [41]

    The Results (Whisker Taper; Maximum Deflection and Protraction) describe an approximately conical profile and greater flexibility near the tip, not a precisely conical shape or greater overall deflection. The Results (Robustness of the Resonant Frequency) show that resonance changes with length after a tip break, but emphasize that tapered whiskers are *less* sensitive to such shortening than untapered ones. The Discussion treats the proposed sensory advantages as speculative. (LLM, conf=0.87)

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [33]Perrin WF Wursig B Thewissen JGM 2008 Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, 2nd edition New York Academic Press
  2. [46]Press WH Flannery BP Teukolsky SA Vetterling WT 1989 Numerical Recipes New York Cambridge University Press

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Authors
Williams, C. M., & Kramer, E. M.
Affiliations
Bard College at Simon's Rock (US)
Corresponding author
Kramer, Eric M.
ORCID
Kramer, Eric M.
Venue
PLoS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2010-01-20
Volume
5
Issue
1
Pages
e8806
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0008806
PMC
PMC2808387
OpenAlex
W2005561854
Cited by
91
References
51
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 7
FWCI
3.30
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
Bard College
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Urology › Comparative Animal Anatomy Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanics of Materials › Adhesion, Friction, and Surface Interactions
Keywords
whiskers, mechanoreceptors, tactile perception, trigeminal nucleus, somatosensory cortex, terrestrial mammals
MeSH terms
Animals, Mammals, Species Specificity, Vibrissae

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