iPedia Free Information Center

Information about Claw

Enlarge picture
Cat claw
A claw is a curved pointed appendage, found at the end of a toe or finger or, in arthropods, of the tarsus.

Arthropods

The correct term for an arthropod's 'claw' is a chela (plural chelae). Legs bearing a chela are called chelipeds. Chelae are also called pincers.

Birds

A talon is the claw of a bird of prey, its primary hunting tool. The talons are very important, without them the bird would not be able to catch its food.

Tetrapods



In tetrapods, claws are made of keratin and consist of two layers. The unguis is the harder external layer, which consists of keratin fibers arranged perpendicular to the direction of growth and in layers at an oblique angle. The subunguis is the softer, flaky underside layer whose grain is parallel to the direction of growth. The claw grows outward from the nail matrix at the base of the unguis and the subunguis grows thicker while travelling across the nail bed. The unguis grows outward faster than the subunguis to produce a curve and the thinner sides of the claw wear away faster than their thicker middle, producing a more or less sharp point. Tetrapods use their claws in many ways, commonly to grasp or kill prey, to dig and to climb and hang.

Mammals

A nail is homologous to a claw but is flatter and has a curved edge, instead of a point. A nail that is big enough to bear weight is called a 'hoof' (see also Horse hoof. However, one side of the cloven-hoof of artiodactyl ungulates may also be called a claw).

Every so often, the growth of claws stops and restarts, as does hair. In hair, this results in the hair falling out and being replaced by a new one. In claws, this results in an abscission layer and the old segment breaks off. This process takes several months for human thumbnails. Cats are often seen working old unguis layers off on wood or on boards made for the purpose. Ungulates' hooves wear or self-trim by ground contact. Domesticated equids (horses, donkeys and mules) usually need regular trimming by a farrier, as a consequence of reduced activity on hard ground.

Many predatory mammals have retractile (retractable) claws that can partially hide inside the animal's paw, especially the felidae, where almost all of its members have fully retractable claws.

Primates

A primate's nail consists of the unguis alone; the subunguis has disappeared. Much like the tail, the claw in apes is no longer necessary. However, in some individuals the subunguis has redeveloped to form a claw-like structure. These individuals don't have actual claws, instead the unguis appears normal with the addition of a thick growth of subunguis.

See also

External links

Arthropoda
Latreille, 1829

Subphyla and Classes
  • Subphylum Trilobitomorpha
  • Trilobita - trilobites (extinct)
  • Subphylum Chelicerata

..... Click the link for more information.
The arthropod leg is a form of jointed appendage of arthropods, usually used for walking. Many of the terms used for arthropod leg segments are of Latin origin, and may be confused with terms for bones: coxa (meaning hip), trochanter
..... Click the link for more information.
    Accipitriformes
  • Pandionidae
  • Accipitridae
  • Sagittariidae
  • Falconiformes
  • Falconidae


A
..... Click the link for more information.
Tetrapoda
Broili, 1913

Classes
  • Amphibia
  • Aves
  • Mammalia
  • Sauropsida (Reptilia)
  • Synapsida
Tetrapods (Greek tetrapoda, Latin quadruped
..... Click the link for more information.
Keratins are a family of fibrous structural proteins; tough and insoluble, they form the hard but nonmineralized structures found in reptiles, birds, amphibians and mammals. They are rivaled as biological materials in toughness only by chitin.
..... Click the link for more information.
nail is a horn-like structure at the end of a human's or an animal's finger or toe. See also claw.

Parts of the nail

Anatomically fingernails and toenails
..... Click the link for more information.
In evolutionary biology, homology is any similarity between characters that is due to their shared ancestry. There are examples in different branches of biology. Anatomical structures that perform the same function in different biological species and evolved from the same structure
..... Click the link for more information.
A hoof is the horny covering of the end of the foot in ungulate mammals.

Animals that have hooves walk on the tips of their toes, unlike humans, who walk on the entire foot. There are many animals with hooves including horses, cows, bison, elk, and deer.
..... Click the link for more information.
horse hoof is the structure surrounding the distal phalanx of the 3rd digit (digit III of the basic pentadactyl limb of vertebrates, evolved into a single weight-bearing digit in equids) of each of the four limbs of Equus species, which is covered by complex soft tissue and
..... Click the link for more information.
Artiodactyla*
Owen, 1848

Families

Antilocapridae
Bovidae
Camelidae
Cervidae
Giraffidae
Hippopotamidae
Moschidae
Suidae
Tayassuidae
Tragulidae
Leptochoeridae †
Dichobunidae †
Cebochoeridae †
..... Click the link for more information.

..... Click the link for more information.
Hair is a filamentous outgrowth of protein, found only on mammals. It projects from the epidermis, though it grows from hair follicles deep in the dermis. Although many other organisms, especially insects, show filamentous outgrowths, these are not considered "hair".
..... Click the link for more information.
Abscission (from Latin abscindere, from ab- ‘off, away’ + scindere ‘to cut’) is the shedding of a body part. It most commonly refers to the process by which a plant intentionally drops one or more of its parts, such as a leaf, fruit, flower or seed, though
..... Click the link for more information.
Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism.
If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
..... Click the link for more information.
F. s. catus

Trinomial name
Felis silvestris catus
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms
Felis lybica invalid junior synonym
Felis catus invalid junior synonym[2]

The cat (
..... Click the link for more information.
Equidae
Gray, 1821

Genus: Equus
Linnaeus, 1758

Species

E. asinus - Donkey
E. africanus - African Wild Ass
E. caballus - Domestic Horse
E.
..... Click the link for more information.
H.O.R.S.E. is a form of poker commonly played at the high stakes tables of casinos. It consists of rounds of play cycling among:
  • Texas Hold 'em,
  • Omaha eight or better,
  • Razz,
  • Seven card Stud, and
  • Seven card stud E

..... Click the link for more information.
Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism.
If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
..... Click the link for more information.
For other uses of "Mule", see Mule (disambiguation).


MULE is the MULtilingual Enhancement to GNU Emacs.

MULE provides facilities not only for handling text written in many different languages (at least 42 character sets, 53
..... Click the link for more information.
farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of a horse's hoof so as to fit shoes to the horse's foot. A farrier couples a subset of the blacksmith's skills (fabricating, adapting, and adjusting metal shoes) with a subset of veterinary medicine
..... Click the link for more information.
predation describes a biological interaction where a predator organism feeds on another living organism or organisms known as prey.[1] Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them.
..... Click the link for more information.
PAW is a three-letter abbreviation or three-letter acronym (TLA) that has been used for:
  • Pentecostal Assemblies of the World
  • Physics Analysis Workstation
  • Plasma arc welding
  • Professional Adventure Writer
  • Project African Wilderness

..... Click the link for more information.
Felidae
G. Fischer de Waldheim, 1817

Subfamilies

Felinae
Pantherinae
†Machairodontinae
Felidae is the biological family of the cats; a member of this family is called a felid.
..... Click the link for more information.
Primates
Linnaeus, 1758

Families
  • 15, See classification
A primate is any member of the biological order Primates, the group that contains all the species commonly related to the lemurs, monkeys, and apes, with the last category
..... Click the link for more information.
nail is a horn-like structure at the end of a human's or an animal's finger or toe. See also claw.

Parts of the nail

Anatomically fingernails and toenails
..... Click the link for more information.
The tail is the section at the rear end of an animal's body; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammals and birds.
..... Click the link for more information.
horse hoof is the structure surrounding the distal phalanx of the 3rd digit (digit III of the basic pentadactyl limb of vertebrates, evolved into a single weight-bearing digit in equids) of each of the four limbs of Equus species, which is covered by complex soft tissue and
..... Click the link for more information.


This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus


page counter