Dewlap | 台北市立動物園資訊網

Adewlapisalongitudinalflapofskinthathangsbeneaththelowerjaworneckofmanyvertebrates.Whilethetermisusuallyusedinthisspecificcontext,itcan ...

Skin hanging below the jaw of animals

A dewlap is a longitudinal flap of skin or similar flesh that hangs beneath the lower jaw or neck of many vertebrates. More loosely, it can be various similar structures in the neck area, such as those caused by a double chin or the submandibular vocal sac of a frog. More generally, it can be any hanging mass of skin, such as a fold of loose skin on an elderly persons neck, or the wattle of a bird. Dewlaps can be considered as a caruncle, defined as "a small, fleshy excrescence that is a normal part of an animals anatomy".[1]

The word is first attested in the mid 1300s as dewelappe ("fold of skin that hangs from the throat of oxen and kine"), from lappe ("loose piece", from Old English læppa), but the first element *dew(e)- is of nebulous origin and meaning; it probably was altered by folk etymology with "dew". Old English had fræt-læppa in the aforementione...