Paw (anatomy)
- "Paws" redirects here. There is also a person named Paws.
A paw is a body part with digits, used for walking, climbing and holding objects, which can be found on most mammals, reptiles and amphibians. It is analogous to the hand or foot of a human.
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[edit] Anatomy
The paw terminates the fore- and hind- legs of animals which have them, and are referred to as forepaws and hindpaws respectively.
They most commonly have five toes, though less are frequent. The toes often have claws on the tip, which in most feline species are retractible (except for the adult cheetah). Several animals have pawpads: furless areas of tough skin on the bottom of the paw, providing good traction and a soft step (which is especially important for predators).
Pawpads are occasionally depicted on animals that lack them, especially rabbits.
Humans, as a consequence of bipedality, have separated the functions of hands and feet - it is very hard (for most) to walk on the hands or manipulate objects with the feet. It is even considered impolite to put one's feet on the table, or to touch the floor with the hands.
[edit] Paws in Furry
On anthropomorphic characters, the paws are often somewhere between human hands/feet and paws. This allows these characters to do everything that a human could do. Such paws are often shaped like a human hand or foot, furred on top, with a furless palm/sole, with or without pronounced pawpads, and with claws on the fingers/toes. Some very human-like characters may even have fingernails/toenails instead of claws.
Many cartoon or comic characters have a reduced number of fingers/toes. Four fingers on each hand/forepaw, three or four toes on each foot/hindpaw are commonly seen in "toonish" artwork, though realistic artists usually use the same number as on the natural animal.
Fursuit paws belong to the more complex parts of a fursuit. A realistic look of pads and claws has to be combined with good function - handpaws should still allow to hold things, footpaws should not inhibit walking and should not go to pieces when walking on rough surfaces. The easiest way is to base handpaws on gloves and footpaws on shoes, but more sophisticated fursuiters prefer to build completely custom constructions. The simulation of digitigrade legs is another problem, for which there are a number of proposed solutions among the fursuiting community.
[edit] See also
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