Cat Whiskers

Cats whiskers (zoological term "vibrissae") identify the cat as a predominantly nocturnal animal. Cats have vibrissae especially on the snout, but also around the eyes and on the lower front legs. The vibrissae detect vibrations in air currents which is passed to the sensory cells providing a spatial picture of the environment around the cat. Cats "see" at least rough spatial structures of their immediate surroundings even in total darkness. The vibrissae are already fully trained in newborns, the importance of which makes sense.