AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -A prehensile tail is the tail of an animal that has adapted to grasp or hold objects. Fully prehensile tails can be used to hold and manipulate objects, and in particular to aid arboreal creatures in finding and eating food in the trees.

Detailed explanation-2: -Despite its usefulness, the prehensile tail is found only in two groups of primates: Cebus – the capuchin monkeys– and the atelines, a group that includes the howler (Alouatta spp.) and spider (Ateles spp.) monkeys.

Detailed explanation-3: -Fully prehensile tails can be used like a hand to hold onto objects and to help arboreal creatures find and eat food while in the trees, like the African tree pangolin pictured. Partially prehensile tails are often used to anchor an animal’s body while it dangles from a branch or as an aid for climbing.

Detailed explanation-4: -Examples of animals with fully prehensile tail are opossum, anteaters, harvest mice, tree pangolins, and seahorses. In contrast, a partially prehensile tail is one wherein the tail is used for anchoring the animal’s body as the animal climbs atop the tree.

Detailed explanation-5: -Seahorses and pipehorses have prehensile tails, a unique characteristic among teleosts that allows them to grasp and hold onto substrates.