Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The role of vibrissae in behavior: A status review

  • Review
  • Published:
Veterinary Research Communications Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Vibrissae or tactile hairs are an important part of the tactile sensory apparatus of many mammals. A wide range of suggested functions found in the literature include food acquisition prey attack, aggression and attack behavior, facial expression in intraspecies communications, dispersion of pheromones, maintaining head position in swimming, and a wide range of environmental monitoring (e. g., current detection in water, wind direction on land). There is little work done specifically on domestic animals or their feral relatives. Work on the tactile senses in general and vibrissae in particular is an open field of study. A set of general questions for study of vibrissa function in domestic animals is presented.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahl, A. S., 1982. Evidence of use of vibrissae in swimming inSigmodon fulviventer. Anim. Behav.,30: 1203–1206.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andres, F. L. and Van der Loos, H., 1982. Whisker patterns in cultured, non-innervated muzzle skin from mouse embyros. Neuroscience Letters,30: 37–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andres, K. H. and von During, M., 1973. Morphology of cutaneous receptors. In Handbook of Sensory Physiology, vol. II, ed. by. A. Iggo. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beddard, F. E., 1902. Observation upon the carpal vibrissae in mammals. Proc. Zool. Soc., Lond.,1902: 127–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard, R. J., Takahashi, L. K., Fukunaga, K. K. and Blanchard, D. C., 1977. Functions of the vibrissae in the defensive and aggressive behavior of the rat. Agg. Behav.,3: 231–240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bugbee, N. M. and Eichelman, B. S., Jr., 1972. Sensory Alterations and Aggressive Behavior in the Rat. Physiol. and Behav.,8: 981–985.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cave, A. J. E., 1969. Hairs and vibrissae in the Rhinocerotidae. J. Zool., Lond.,157: 247–257.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, P. and Hardy, M. H., 1952. The development of mouse vibrissaein vivo andin vitro. J. Anat., Lond.,86: 342–356.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorfl, J., 1982. The musculature of the mystacial vibrissae of the white mouse. J. Anat.,135: 147–154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dun, R. B. and Fraser, A. S., 1959. Selection for an invariant character, vibrissae number, in the house mouse. Anat. J. Biol. Sci.,12: 506–523.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dykes, R. W., 1975. Afferent fibers from mystacial vibrissae of cats and seals. J. Neurophysiol.,38: 650–662.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fitzgerald, O., 1940. Discharges from the sensory organs of the cat's vibrissae and the modification in their activity by ions. J. Physiol.,98: 163–178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flannelly, K. J., Carty, R. W. and Thor, D. H., 1976. Vibrissal anesthesia and the suppression of intruder-elicited aggression in rats. Psychol. Record,26: 255–261.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flory, R. K., Ulrich, R. E. and Wolff, P. C., 1965. The effects of visual impairment on aggressive behavior. Psychol. Record.,15: 185–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gogan, P., Gueritaud, J. P., Horcholle-Bossavit, G., Tyc-Dumont, S., 1981. The vibrissal pad as a source of sensory info. for the oculomotor system of the cat. Exp. Brain Res.,44: 409–418.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldschmid-Lange, V. U., 1976. Uber die morphologischen Unterschiede im Aufbau der facialen Vibrissen einiger Saugetierarten. Zool. Auz.,196: 417–427.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gottschaldt, K. M., Iggo, A. and Young, D. W., 1973. Functional characteristics of mechano-receptors in sinus hair follicles of the cat. J. Physiol.,235: 287–315.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gottschaldt, K. M. and Young, D. W., 1977. Properties of different functional types of neurones in the cat's rostral trigeminal nuclei responding to sinus hair stimulation. J. Physiol.,272: 57–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregoire, S. E. and Smith, D. E., 1975. Mouse-killing in the rat: effects of sensory deficits on attack behavior and stereotyped biting. Anim. Behav.,23: 186–191.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greene, E. C. 1963. Anatomy of the rat. Hafner, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gustafson, J. W. and Felbain-Kermaidas, S. L., 1977. Behavior and neural approaches to the function of mystacial vibrissae. Psychol. Bull.,84: 477–488.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hafez, E. S. E., (Editor)., 1975. The behaviour of domestic animals, 3rd ed. Bailliere Tindall, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, C. W. and Lynch, J. J., 1978. A reconsideration of psychological precursors of sudden death in infrahuman animals. Am. Psycholog.,33: 419–429.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ibrahim, L. and Wright, E. A., 1975. The growth of rats and mice vibrissae under normal and some abnormal conditions. J. Embryol. Exp. Morph.,33: 831–844.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeanmonod, D., Rice, F. L. and Van der Loos, H., 1977. Mouse somatosensory cortex: development of the alterations in the barrel field which are caused by injury to the vibrissal follicles. Neurosci. Letters6: 151–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanki, J. P. and Adams, D. B., 1978. Ventrobasal thalamus necessary for visually-released defensive boxing of rat. Physiol. and Behav.,21: 7–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz, R. J., 1976. Role of the mystacial vibrissae in the control of isolation induced aggression in the mouse. Behav. Biol.,17: 399–402.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemble, E. D. and Lewis, C., 1982. Effects of vibrissal amputation on cricket predation in northern grasshopper mice (Onychomys leucogaster). Bull. of the Psychonomic Society,20: 275–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenyon, C. A. P., Keeble, S. and Cronin, P., 1982. The role of perioral sensation in nipple attachment by weanling rat pups. Dev. Psychobio.,15: 409–421.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kindred, B., 1963. Selection for an invariant character, vibrissa number in the house mouse. IV. Probit. Analysis. Genetics,48: 621–632.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koranyi, L., Endrocyi, E. and Lissak, K., 1963. Avoiding conditioned reflex in blind rats deprived of vibrissae. Acta Physiol. Acad. Sci. Hung.,24: 193–198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kratochvil, J., 1968. Das Vibrissenfeld der europaischen Arten der GattungApodemus Keup, 1829. Zoologiche Listy,17: 193–209.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kruger, L. and Michel, F., 1962. A morphological and somatotopic analysis of single unit activity in the trigeminal sensory complex of the cat. Exp. Neurol.,5: 139–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ling, J. K., 1966. The skin and hair of the southern elephant seal,Mirounga leonina: the facial vibrissae. Aust. J. Zool.,14: 855–866.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ling, J. K., 1977. Vibrissae of marine mammals. In: R. J. Harrison (Editor), Functional Anatomy of Marine Mammals, vol. 3. Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Long, S., 1972. Hair-nibbling and whisker-trimming as indicators of social hierarchy in mice. Anim. Behav.,20: 10–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lutzner, M. A. and Hansen, C. T., 1975. Skin blisters and hair loss in a rat mutant called vibrissaeless (vb). Invest. Derm.,65: 212–216.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyne, A. G., 1959. The systematic and adaptive significance of the vibrissae in the marsupialia. J. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.,133: 79–133.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyne, A. G., Downes, A. G. and Chase, H. B., 1974. Growth of vibrissae in the marsupialTrichosurus vulpecula. Aust. J. Zool.,22: 117–129.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marler, P. and Hamilton, W. J., 1966. Mechanisms of Animal Behavior. London, John Wiley and Sons, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacDonnell, M. and Flynn, J. P., 1966. Sensory control of hypothalamic attack. Anim. Behav.,14: 399–405.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGill, T. E., 1982. “Whisker” trimming in show dogs: a harmless cosmetic procedure or mutilation of a sensory system? Dog World Dec. 1982, p. 16, ff.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, E. H., 1975. A comparative study of facial expressions of two species of pinnipeds. Behaviour,53: 268–284.

    Google Scholar 

  • Montagna, W. and Yan, J. S., 1964. The skin of the domestic pig. J. Invest. Derm.,43: 11–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria, 3rd ed. together withNomina Histologica, 2nd ed., 1983. International Committee on Veterinary Gross Anatomical Nomenclature. World Association of Veterinary Anatomists, Ithaca, N. Y.

  • Nord, S.G., 1967. Somatotopic organization in the spinal trigeminal nucleus, the dorsal column nuclei and related structures in the rat. J. Comp. Neurol.,130: 343–356.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nowak, R.M. and Paradiso, J.L., 1983. Walker's Mam als of the World, Vol. I., 4th ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press. Baltimore, Maryland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliver, G.W., 1977. Navigation of mazes by a gray seal,Halichoerus grypus (Fabricius). Behav.LXVII: 1–2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, E. and Weddell, G., 1964. The relationship between structure, innervation, and function of the skin of the bottle nose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). J. Zool. Proc. Zool. Soc. (London),143: 553–568.

    Google Scholar 

  • Park, A.W., 1970. Morphological adaptation in developing vibrissae of rats. Acta Anat.,75: 67–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearson, O.P., 1962. Survival value of vibrissae. J. Mamm.,43: 105–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennycuik, P.R. and Rendel, J.M., 1977. Selection for constancy of score and pattern of secondary vibrissae in Ta/Ta-Ta/y and Ta/+ mice. Aust. J. Biol. Sci.,30: 303–317.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, R.S. and Bartholomew, G.A., 1967. The Natural History and Behavior of the California Sea Lion. Special Publication No. 1, The American Society of Mammalogists.

  • Pidoux, B. and Verley, R., 1979. Projections on the cortical somatic I barrel subfield from ipsilateral vibrisae in adult rodents. Electroencephal. and Clin. Neurophysiol.,46: 715–726.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pocock, R.I., 1914. On the facial vibrissae of Mammalia. Proc. Zool. Soc.,LH, pp. 889–912.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pond, F.J., Sinnamon, M. and Adams, D.B., 1977. Single-unit recording in The midbrain of rats during shock-elicited fighting behavior. Brain Res.,120: 469–484.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poulter, T., 1972. Sea lion vibrissae an, acoustic sensor. Proc. A. Conf. Biol. Sonar and Diving Mams. (S.R.I. Menlo Park, Co.),9: 95–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reed, C. and O'Donoghue, J.L., 1979. A new guinea pig mutant with abnormal hair production and immunodeficiency. Lab. Anim. Sci.,29: 744–748.

    Google Scholar 

  • Renouf, D., 1979. Preliminary measurements of the sensitivity of the vibrissae of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) to low frequency vibrations. J. Zool., Lond.,188: 443–450.

    Google Scholar 

  • Renouf, D., 1980. Fishing in captive harbour seals (Phoca vitulina Concolor): a possible role for vibrissae. Netherlands J. of Zoology,30: 504–509.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richter, C.P., 1958. The phenomenon of unexplained sudden death in animals and man. In: W.H. Gantt (Editor), Physiological Bases of Psychiatry. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowe, W.P., 1983. Deformed whiskers in mice infected with certain exogenous marine leukemia viruses. Science,221 562–564.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiffman, H.R., Lore, R., Passafiume, J. and Neeb, R., 1970. Role of vibrissae for depth perception in the rat (Rattus norwegicus). Anim. Behav.18: 290–292.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephens, R.J., Beebe, I.J. and Poulter, T.C., 1973. Innvervation of the vibrissae of the California Sea Lion,Zalophus californianus. Anat. Rev.,76: 421–442.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strozik, E. and Festing, M.F.W., 1981. Whisker trimming in mice. Lab. Anim.,15: 309–312.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swanson, H.H., 1980. The “hairless” gerbil: a new mutant. Laboratory Animals,14: 143–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thor, D.H. and Ghiselli, W.B., 1975. Vibrissal anesthesia and suppression of irritable fighting in rats: a temporary duration effect inexperienced fighters. Physiol. Psychol.,3: 1–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thor, D.H., Ghiselli, W.B. and Lambelet, D.C., 1974. Sensory control of shock-elicited fighting in rats. Physiol. and Behav.,13: 683–686.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsuji, S. and Matsushita, H., 1972. “Glabrous” a new hair deficient mutant in the house mouse. Japan J. Gen.,47: 297–299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Loos, H. and Dorfl, J., 1978. Does the skin tell the somatosensory cortex how to construct a map of the periphery? Neurosci. Letters,7: 23–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Horn, R.N., 1970. Vibrissae structure in the rhesus monkey. Folia primat.,13: 241–285.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verley, R. and Pidoux, B., 1981. Electrophysiological study of the topography of the vibrissae projections of the tactile thalamus and cerebral cortex in mutant mice with hair defects. Exptl. Neurol.,72: 475–485.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vincent, S.B., 1912. The function of the vibrissae in the behavior of the white rat. Behavior Monographs, 1: 1–81. Serial #5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vongdokmai, R., 1980. Effect of protein malnutrition on development of mouse cortical barrels. J. Comp. Neurol.,191: 283–294.

    Google Scholar 

  • Webster, M. and Webster, D.B., 1975. Maze running in kangaroo rats with sensory deprivations. Physiol. Psychol.,3: 195–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Welker, E. and Van der Loos, H., 1983. Genetically determined supernumerary mystacial vib. in albino mice. (ICR): association with peripheral innervation and with size of barrelfield. Neurosci. Letter 0 (Supple 14): 5401.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weller, W.L., 1972. Barrels in somatic sensory neocortex of the marsupialTrichosurus vulpecula (brush-tailed possum). Brain Research,43: 11–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weller, W.L. and Johnson, J.I., 1975. Barrels in cerebral cortex altered by receptor disruption in newborn, but not in five-day old mice (Cricetidae and Muridae). Brain Res.,83: 504–508.

    Google Scholar 

  • Werboff, J. and Anderson, A., 1967. Vibrissae and genetic background: their role in a water submersion test with mice. Perceptual and Motor Skills,24: 1143–1153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woolsey, T.A. and Van der Loos, H., 1970. The structural organization of layer IV in the somatosensory region (SI) of the mouse cerebral cortex: the description of a cortical field composed of discrete cytoarchitectonic units. Brain Res.,17: 205–242.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woolsey, T.A. and Wann, J.R., 1976. Anal changes in mouse cortical barrels ff. vibrissal damage at different post-natal ages. J. Comp. Neur.,170, 53–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yablokov, A.V. and Klevezal, G.A., 1962. Whiskers of whales and seals and Their distribution, structure, and significance. From Morphological Characteristics of Aquatic Mammals. Publ. by Izdatelstvv “Nauka”, Moscow. Ed. by S.E. Kleinenberg: 44–81. Translated by Translation Bureau, Foreign Language Division, Department of the Secretary of State of Canada (1969).

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamakado, M. and Yohro, T., 1979. Subdivision of mouse vibrissae on an embryological basis, with description of the number and arrangement of sinus hairs and cortical barrels in BALB/c (nude/t; nude, nu/nu) and Hairless (hr/hr) mice. Am. J. Anat.,155: 153–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yohro, T., 1977. Structure of sinus hair follicle in the big-clawed shrew,Sorex unguiculatus. J. Morph.,153: 333–354.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, R.D. and Oliver, R.F., 1976. Morphological changes associated with the growth cycle of vibrissal follicles in the rat. J. Embryol. Exp. Morph.,36: 597–607.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zucker, E. and Welker, W.I., 1969. Coding of somatic sensory imput by vibrissae neurons in the rat's trigeminal ganglion. Brain Res.,12: 138–156.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Science Department, Michigan State University, Kedzie Laboratory, 48824, East Lansing, MI, (U.S.A.)

    A. S. Ahl

Authors
  1. A. S. Ahl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ahl, A.S. The role of vibrissae in behavior: A status review. Vet Res Commun 10, 245–268 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02213989

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02213989

Keywords

Search

Navigation