What are the whiskers for an animal’s face?

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The whiskers on an animal’s face are organs of touch.  They help the animal sense what going on around it.  Scientists call whiskers vibrissae (vi-BRIS-see). These long, sensitive hairs are most helpful to animals that prowl about in dark places.  

A cat’s whiskers brush against objects the cat might not see as it hunts at night.  Whiskers help some animals find food.  The whiskers on a seal’s face are helpful in detecting fish in the dark or cloudy water.  And the thick whiskers on a walrus’s upper lip help it to feel for clams in the ocean bottom.–Dick Rogers