Animals With Prehensile Tails: Gripping Facts and Pictures, Animal Sake

The word 'prehensile' comes from the Latin word 'prehender', which means 'to grasp'. Some animals have prehensile tails, tails that can curl around and grip things. This is a really handy adaptation. It helps these animals grab food, hang from branches, and stay balanced high up in the trees. Read on to discover which animals have this amazing ability!

The prehensile tail is a key feature that sets New World monkeys apart from Old World monkeys. Old World monkeys live in Africa and Asia. New World monkeys live in Central and South America, and some parts of Mexico. Scientists think the prehensile tail developed in New World monkeys because of the thick, dense forests of South America. These monkeys often use their tails like an extra arm or leg to hold on to branches.

Animals have all kinds of adaptations, special features that help them survive in their habitat. Prehensility is one of these. It means an body part can be used for holding or grasping things. Some animals have prehensile feet, a prehensile trunk (like elephants), or even prehensile arms (like octopuses). And some have prehensile tails.

Animals use their tails in lots of different ways. Mammals often use their tails for balance when running or jumping. Dogs wag their tails to communicate. Fish use their tails to swim. Birds use their tails to stay balanced in the air. But animals with prehensile tails do something extra, they can curl their tail around objects like branches and hold on tight.

Tails can be fully prehensile (strong enough to grab and grip food) or partially prehensile (good for climbing and hanging, but not for picking things up). This feature is especially useful for arboreal animals, animals that spend most of their time living in trees.

New World Monkeys With Prehensile Tails

Many New World monkeys have prehensile tails. The term 'New World Monkeys' covers monkeys that belong to five families: Callitrichidae, Cebidae, Aotidae, Pitheciidae, and Atelidae. They are split into two main groups.

The first group, Callithricidae, includes marmosets and tamarins. These monkeys have claws, and they don't have prehensile tails. The second group, Cebidae, has four subfamilies: Cebinae (Squirrel and Capuchin monkeys), Aotidae (Night monkeys, also called owl monkeys), Atelinae (Howler monkeys, Spider monkeys, Woolly monkeys, and Woolly Spider monkeys), and Pitheciidae (Uakari, Titi, and Saki monkeys). These monkeys have flatter noses and nails instead of claws.

Monkeys in the Atelidae family have prehensile tails that help them grab food and dangle on branches. They also have a bare, ridged patch called a friction pad at the tip of the tail, which gives them an even stronger grip. Spider monkeys don't have thumbs at all, so they use their prehensile tail to swing from tree to tree and hang from branches while searching for food.

Woolly Monkey

Woolly monkeys are named for their thick, velvety fur. They are among the most recognisable New World monkeys. Their strong prehensile tail lets them hang from high canopy branches while keeping both hands free to pick fruit. This is a huge advantage in the dense forests of the Amazon.

Red Howler Monkey & Black and Gold Howler Monkeys

Gold Howler Monkey sitting on a branch — Gold Howler Monkey resting on a branch

Gold Howler Monkey hanging upside down — Howler monkey hanging upside down, the prehensile tail in action

Howler monkeys are famous for their deafening roars, but their prehensile tails are just as impressive. The tail works like a fifth limb. It lets them hang upside down to reach leaves and fruit that would be out of reach otherwise. The bare friction pad on the underside of their tail tip gives them a vice-like grip on any branch.

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Opossums and Possums

Opossum

Opossums are marsupials, they have a pouch and belong to the Didelphidae family. Their long, hairless tail is believed to be prehensile. While opossums don't always live in trees, there is evidence that they use their tails to grab leaves or other items for building their nests. Baby opossums sometimes hang from branches using their tails, but only for short periods. Adults mostly use the tail as a climbing aid. The ringtail opossum and common brushtail opossum are thought to have tails that are slightly more prehensile than other opossum species.

Common Brushtail Possum & Ringtail Possum

Possums are marsupial animals native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi. They come out at night to find food. They are semi-arboreal and often live inside hollow trees. Their tails are long and somewhat prehensile. The bare skin on the underside of the tail gives them a stronger grip when climbing. Together with the webbed toes on their hind feet, the prehensile tail helps them scale tree trunks with ease. The sugar glider is a nocturnal possum native to Australia and Tasmania that also has a partially prehensile tail.

Other Mammals With Prehensile Tails

Southern Tamandua anteater on a branch — Southern Tamandua, the anteater that uses its tail like a climbing rope

Anteaters (Silky Anteater and Tamandua)

Anteaters belong to the order Pilosa and suborder Vermilingua. As their name suggests, they mostly eat ants. They also eat termites. The Silky Anteater and both the northern and southern tamandua have prehensile tails that help them climb trees and hold on to branches.

Kinkajou

Kinkajous are arboreal animals that belong to the Potos genus and Procyonidae family. They live in the tropical forests of South and Central America and some parts of Mexico. They use their prehensile tail like an extra limb, it helps them stay balanced while moving from tree to tree. You can also spot them hanging from branches by their tail alone. At night, they even wrap their tail around themselves to stay warm while they sleep.

Prehensile-tailed Porcupine

These porcupines belong to the Coendou and Chaetomys genera. They live in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Guiana, Paraguay, Trinidad, and Venezuela. Prehensile-tailed porcupines are tree-dwellers and can be tricky to spot. They use their long, curved claws to climb trees. Their tail is long and bare, which helps them grip branches and stay balanced as they move through the canopy. The tail is also strong enough for them to hang upside down while their feet hold on to food.

Binturong

Also known as bearcats, the binturong belongs to the Viverridae family and Arctictis genus. Its scientific name is Arctictis binturong. This Old World animal is native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. It clings to branches with its prehensile tail, which also helps it stay balanced. The tail is about 26-27 inches long, while the head and body measures 28-33 inches. The tail is quite bushy. Binturongs use it like an extra limb, both for climbing and for holding on tight.

Other Old World Animals With Prehensile Tails

Harvest Mouse

The Harvest Mouse (Micromys minutus) belongs to the Muridae family and Muroidea superfamily. This tiny rodent is native to Asia and Europe. Its prehensile tail is almost 2-3 inches long, roughly the same length as its entire body. The mouse uses its broad feet and prehensile tail together to climb plants and grip stems or branches while foraging for food.

Pangolin

Pangolins are also called scaly anteaters. They belong to the Manis genus and Manidae family and are native to West and Central Africa. These semi-arboreal creatures often walk on their hind legs, using their prehensile tail for balance. The tree pangolin has a fully prehensile tail.

Animals With Partially Prehensile Tails

Animals with partially prehensile tails use them mainly for climbing and hanging from branches. Unlike animals with fully prehensile tails, they can't grab or handle objects with their tails while they're eating. Here are some animals with partially prehensile tails.

Capuchin Monkey

Capuchin monkeys are native to Central and South America and belong to the Cebidae family. They are arboreal and spend most of their time in trees. Studies show they are highly intelligent animals. Unlike other New World monkeys that have fully prehensile tails, the capuchin's tail is less flexible. It also lacks the friction pads that provide a stronger grip. Because of this, capuchins use their tails mainly for dangling and climbing, not for grasping food.

Tree Porcupines

Some New World porcupines are arboreal. These belong to the Coendou genus and live in tropical South America and Mexico. They use their hind feet and the fleshy pad on the inside of each foot to grip branches. They are strong climbers, and their prehensile tail helps too.

Reptiles and Amphibians With Prehensile Tails

Solomon Island Skink (prehensile-tailed skink) — Solomon Island Skink, the world's only fully herbivorous skink

Prehensile-tailed Skink (Solomon Island Skink)

The prehensile-tailed skink, or Corucia zebrata, is the only completely herbivorous skink in the world. It is native to the tropical rainforests of the Solomon Islands. This animal lives high in the tree canopy. Its strong, muscular and partially prehensile tail (along with strong digits and sharp claws) helps it move through the canopy. The Solomon Island skink wraps its tail around branches to keep its balance.

Chameleon wrapped around a branch using its prehensile tail — Chameleon, zygodactyl feet AND a prehensile tail give it a double grip

Chameleons

Color-changing is the most famous trick of chameleons, but they have other cool features too. Their feet are zygodactyl (two toes point forward and two point backward, like a pair of tongs) which gives them a strong grip on branches. They also have a prehensile tail that works like an extra limb, wrapping around branches to give them stability and stop them from falling.

Crested Gecko

Crested geckos belong to the Correlophus genus and Diplodactylidea family. Their scientific name is Correlophus ciliatus. They are often called eyelash geckos because of the eyelash-like crest of skin above their eyes. They have a prehensile tail, which they coil around branches or objects for balance. If a predator threatens them, they can drop their tail as a distraction. But unlike some other gecko species, their tail does not grow back.

Arboreal Alligator Lizard

Arboreal alligator lizards belong to the genus Abronia and Anguidae family. These New World animals are native to Mexico, Central America, and South America. The Southern alligator lizard and the Texas alligator lizard are also known to have prehensile tails.

Cave Salamander and Other Climbing Salamanders

Salamanders are amphibians in the order Caudata. They look similar to lizards, though some species have tiny hind limbs or no hind limbs at all, which gives them an eel-like shape. Some North American forest salamanders have prehensile tails that help them climb. These include the clouded salamander (Aneides ferreus), the arboreal salamander (Aneides lugubris), the large Red Hills salamander (Phaeognathus hubrichti), the wandering salamander (Aneides vagrans), and the cave salamander (Eurycea lucifuga).

Frequently Asked Questions

What does prehensile mean?

Prehensile comes from the Latin 'prehender' meaning to grasp. A prehensile tail can curl around and grip objects, working like an extra limb.

Do Old World monkeys have prehensile tails?

No, only New World monkeys (from Central and South America) have prehensile tails. Old World monkeys from Africa and Asia do not.

Which is the only aquatic animal with a prehensile tail?

Seahorses (and their relatives the pipefish) use prehensile tails to anchor themselves to corals and sea grasses underwater.

Seahorses and Pipefish

Golden seahorse anchored to coral — Seahorse, uses its prehensile tail to grip coral and sea grass underwater

Seahorses

Black seahorse wrapped around sea grass — Seahorses anchor themselves with their tails while feeding

Seahorses belong to the Hippocampus genus and Syngnathidae family. There are more than 50 species in this genus. Unlike most fish, they have no caudal fin. Instead they use their dorsal fin and pectoral fins to swim. They anchor themselves to corals, seaweeds, or sea grasses using their prehensile tail. They then use their long snouts to suck in plankton and small crustaceans.

Banded Pipefish

Pipefish belong to the same Syngnathidae family as seahorses. While seahorses swim vertically, pipefish swim horizontally. They have a long snout like seahorses and a snake-like body. Many pipefish species have prehensile tails.

More Animals With Partially Prehensile Tails

Rats can also wrap their tails around objects and hang from them, but only for short periods, because their tails are only partially prehensile. Bettongs and potoroos also have partially prehensile tails. These are marsupials native to Australia that look like small wallabies and belong to the Potoroidae family.

The prehensile tail is one of nature's most remarkable adaptations. It has helped many animals survive by giving them an extra grip in their treetop habitats. There are plenty of other amazing animal adaptations out there too, each one a reminder of how extraordinary the natural world really is.

Term	Meaning	Example
Prehensile	Able to grip, grasp, or curl around objects, from Latin prehendere	Spider monkey's tail
Arboreal	Living in or spending most time in trees	Kinkajou, chameleon
Friction pad	A bare, ridged patch of skin at the tail tip that improves grip, like a fingerprint	Howler monkey's tail tip
Zygodactyl	Toes arranged two-forward two-backward, like tongs, for gripping branches	Chameleon's feet
Marsupial	A mammal that carries its young in a pouch after birth	Opossum, possum, kangaroo
New World vs Old World	New World = Americas; Old World = Africa, Asia, Europe. Only New World monkeys have prehensile tails.	Spider monkey (NW) vs baboon (OW)

Animals With Prehensile Tails: Gripping Facts and Pictures