Proboscis

Originally means proboscis (Greek προβοσκίς, proboskís, therefore neulat. proboscis ) in animals an extended, fleshy nose with the nostrils at the lower, free end. In a broader sense, the term refers to the elongated mouth parts in a similar way to many other animals.

• When elephants and other ( fossil ) members of Proboscidea ( Proboscidea ), the proboscis is a long, extremely portable and gifted with a fine sense of touch muscular organ that formed from the merging of the upper lip and nose in the course of its development history. Besides its function as olfactory organ it serves its owner as a weapon, as a gripping hand during feeding, as suction and pressure pump while drinking. Also the trunk plays an important role in the social interaction between elephants (about mutual slinging the trunk as a sign of greeting or affection ), and more generally as an additional means of communication (eg for signaling a threatening gesture or dominance claims by a stretched upward trunk ). Occasionally, the elephant's trunk is used when bathing or swimming as a kind of snorkel.
• In tapirs the trunk in pigs is less pronounced than with elephants, only slight.
• In other mammals, such as hedgehogs, coati and anteater is often called due to the visual similarity also of a proboscis.
• In butterflies consists of the partly very long proboscis from the converted mandibles. He is drawn or rolled at rest and used for aspiration of floral nectar or (in a few species ) of the blood of warm-blooded creatures, in case of need for scribing flowers or skin.
• In other insects, such as flies and esp. bugs, the proboscis is a suction device, which is used in case of need for piercing of the previous surfaces.
• In beetles, the extension of the head is called a proboscis. They are found mainly in the weevils, they are also formed in a few other beetle families. However, the mouthparts sit at the top of the immovable trunk
• Also, some snails, worms, crabs and jellyfish have appendages that resemble in appearance and function to a trunk and be so named.

• Anatomy (eddy lots)
• Anatomy (vertebrates )
• Nose
• Breathing apparatus