A wattle is a fleshy
caruncle hanging from various parts of the head or neck in several groups of birds and mammals. Caruncles in birds include those found on the face, wattles,
dewlaps,
snoods, and earlobes. Wattles are generally paired structures, but may occur as a single structure when it is sometimes known as a dewlap. Wattles are frequently organs of
sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...
. In some birds, caruncles are erectile tissue and may or may not have a feather covering.
Wattles are often such a striking
morphological characteristic of animals that it features in their common name. For example, the southern and northern cassowaries are known as the double-wattled and single-wattled cassowary, respectively, and a breed of domestic pig is known as the
Red Wattle.
Birds
Function
In birds, wattles are often an ornament for courting
potential mates. Large wattles are correlated with high testosterone levels, good nutrition, and the ability to evade predators, which in turn indicates a potentially successful mate. Ornamental organs such as wattles may be associated with
gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...
s coding for disease resistance. In
umbrellabirds, the wattle serves to amplify the birds' calls.
Examples
Bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
s with wattles include:
*From the neck or throat
** Birds of the genus ''
Casuarius'': the
northern
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a r ...
,
southern
Southern may refer to:
Businesses
* China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China
* Southern Airways, defunct US airline
* Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US
* Southern Airways Express, M ...
, and
dwarf
Dwarf or dwarves may refer to:
Common uses
*Dwarf (folklore), a being from Germanic mythology and folklore
* Dwarf, a person or animal with dwarfism
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
* Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a humanoid ...
cassowaries
**
Galliformes
Galliformes is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkeys, chickens, quail, and other landfowl. Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important in their ecosystems as seed dispersers and predators, and are ofte ...
(e.g.,
wild turkey
The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey, which was originally d ...
s,
chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...
s)
** Some
vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
s
** Some
lapwings
** The male of the
wattled starling
** Some
[John White. 1790. ''Voyage to New South Wales''
] Australian wattlebirds (''Anthochaera'' spp.)
** The
New Zealand wattlebirds (Callaeidae), which include the
kokako,
tieke or saddleback, and the
huia
**The
wattled crane (''Bugeranus carunculatus'')
**Three
neotropical bellbird species
*From below or around the eyes
**The
African wattle-eye or puffback flycatcher
**The
wattled jacana (''Jacana jacana'')
**The
African wattled lapwing (''Vanellus senegallus'')
**Many male
pheasant
Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera native range is restricted to Eurasia ...
s
**
Spectacled tyrant
**''
Gracula'' hill mynas
**
Muscovy duck (''Cairina moschata'')
**The
English carrier pigeon
Mammals
Mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur ...
s with wattles include:
*Some domestic
goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
s have fleshy, fur-covered protuberances, called tassels, hanging on either side of the throat.
*Some domestic
pigs, such as the
Kunekune,
Lithuanian Native pig, and
Red Wattle have a fleshy protuberance hanging either side of the throat.
Gallery
File:Male common pheasant.jpg, A common pheasant
The common pheasant (''Phasianus colchicus'') is a bird in the pheasant family ( Phasianidae). The genus name comes from Latin ''phasianus'', "pheasant". The species name ''colchicus'' is Latin for "of Colchis" (modern day Georgia), a countr ...
(''Phasianus colchicus'') with bright red facial wattles
File:Casuarius casuarius -upper body -captive-8a-2c.jpg, A southern cassowary with double wattles hanging from the throat
File:Goat with unusual horns.jpg, A goat with small wattles at the base of its throat
File:Red Wattle pig.jpg, Red Wattle pig with wattles at the base of the throat
See also
*
Casque (anatomy)
A casque is an anatomical feature found in some species of birds, reptiles, and amphibians. In birds, it is an enlargement of the bones of the or the skull, either on the front of the face, or the top of the head, or both. The casque has been h ...
*
Crest (feathers)
The crest is a prominent feature exhibited by several bird and other dinosaur species on their heads. It is distinct from features such as casques and cockscombs - sometimes erroneously referred to as "crests", which are bony and fleshy struct ...
*
Comb (anatomy)
A comb is a fleshy growth or crest on the top of the head of some gallinaceous birds, such as domestic chickens. The alternative name cockscomb (with several spelling variations) reflects the fact that combs are generally larger on cock birds ...
- the fleshy structure present atop the heads of many
Galliform species
*
Frontal shield
*
Gular pouch
Gular skin (throat skin), in ornithology, is an area of featherless skin on birds that joins the lower mandible of the beak (or ''bill'') to the bird's neck. Other vertebrate taxa may have a comparable anatomical structure that is referred to as ...
*
Dubbing (poultry)
Dubbing is the procedure of removing the comb, wattles and sometimes earlobes of poultry. Removing the wattles is sometimes called "dewattling".
Procedure
To perform dubbing, the tissues are first disinfected and, if available, an anesthetic ...
- wattle amputation
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wattle (Anatomy)
Birds
Bird anatomy
Vertebrate anatomy