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 ...

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 ** SomeJohn 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

References