Grooming claw

A cleaning claw is a resultant independently in several animal groups structure on the limbs, which is used for body care.

Plaster claws in birds

Different groups of birds or species have a distinct, special claw shape. The cleaning claw, the claw of the middle toe is most often elongated and flattened and serrated on the inside or with a more or less clearly pronounced comb-like structure. It is used for preening.

A particularly pronounced plaster claw can be found at the Great Blue Heron. But it is also at various wading birds (eg, Black-tailed Godwit, Pratincole -likes), gannets, available at the Nightjar and some owls.

Plaster claws in primates

The wet nose monkeys have a steeply rising from toe structure, referred to as plaster claw on the second toe - on all other fingers and toes have nails. This structure is likely to be an adaptation to a more efficient grooming and is a common derived feature of the wet nose monkeys. The tarsiers - which were also formerly classed as wet nose monkeys - have a cleaning claw on the second and third toe, with all other primates lack this feature.

Whether it is in plaster claws to an original feature of primates or whether this feature has independently developed convergent in wet nose monkeys and tarsiers, is not known.