Dear w_scott-ga;
Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. The
hairs on the snout of pigs (and many other animals like rodents,
seals, etc.) are called vibrissae, the technical name for whiskers.
Believe it or not these tactile facial hairs form a complex sensory
system that is used to aid the animal in detecting the presence of
edible food, as well as things that might pose a potential danger to
the animal. When the vibrissal ?whiskers? are stimulated this alerts
the foraging animal to give the stimuli a second look, whether this
involves a consideration of something worthy of eating or worthy of
avoiding. Anatomically speaking this sensory system is known as
Vibrissal follicle-sinus complex.
PUB MED
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2794004&dopt=Abstract
Incidentally the normal ?whiskers? you see growing arranged in orderly
rows on animals' cheeks are called "mystacial hairs", and while they
are typically more sensitive than those on the chin of the snout, they
essentially perform the same function.
I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
INFORMATION SOURCES
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VIBRISSAL
VIBRISSAE
ANATOMY
WHISKERS |
