Animals can shed parts of their bodies.
Some animals lose hair or fur.
Snakes shed their skin to grow.
This helps them stay healthy.
It is like getting new clothes.
Do you see hair on your pets?
Animals can shed parts of their bodies.
Some animals lose hair or fur. Cats shed fur in the spring. This helps them stay cool.
Birds also lose old feathers. They grow new ones to stay healthy. This can take a lot of energy.
Snakes shed their skin to grow. They rub against rocks to help. This lets them crawl out of old skin.
Insects also shed their hard shells. This helps them grow much bigger. It is like getting new clothes.
Animals often shed parts of their bodies. This is called moulting. They do this to grow or stay healthy.
Some animals shed fur. Cats shed fur in the spring. This helps them get a thinner coat for summer. Dogs also shed fur. This happens in the spring and fall.
Birds replace old feathers with new ones. Feathers are dead parts of the body. They wear out over time. Birds must keep feathers to stay warm. Replacing them takes a lot of power.
Snakes and lizards shed their skin. Snakes rub against rocks to help. They crawl out of their old skin. It is like pulling off a sock. Lizards often shed in small pieces.
Insects and crabs shed a hard shell. This shell is called an exoskeleton. They must shed it to grow bigger. This way is called ecdysis. When they moult, the new shell is soft. It hardens later.
Moulting is a way that animals cast off parts of their bodies. This can happen at certain times of the year. It can also happen at specific points in an animal's life. Some animals shed their skin, which is called the epidermis. Others shed hair, feathers, or fur. In many invertebrates, this process is called ecdysis.
Animals do this for many helpful reasons. It helps them grow much larger. It can also help them stay healthy or stay warm. In the past, people called this "mewing." This name is why the Royal Mews in Britain exists.
Many animals follow a specific way of working to moult. Birds replace old feathers by growing new ones. First, the bird sheds some old feathers. Then, pin feathers grow in to take their place. As these become full feathers, more old ones are shed. This is a cycle that happens in many phases.
Snakes have a different way of working. They rub their heads against a hard rock or wood. This makes their stretched skin split open. The snake then crawls out of the skin. It is like pulling a sock off a foot.
Scientists have studied how these changes happen over time. A 2023 study looked at the history of birds. It found that moulting likely evolved late in the bird lineage. People also use photography to study birds without bothering them. They can look at how birds change through pictures.
Some researchers use special markers to study these forces. They look at stable hydrogen isotope analysis to learn more. This helps them understand how animals live and move.
There are many interesting facts about different animals. Cats often moult their fur during spring and summer. This helps them get a thinner coat for the heat. Dogs often moult twice each year in the spring and fall. Arctic dogs are special because they shed twice every year.
In the US, over 75% of commercial hen flocks were force-moulted in 2003. This is done to help them lay more eggs. Some birds lose 4% to 12% of their body weight in feathers.
Most of these changes link to things you might see every day. You might see a cat losing hair on a sofa. You might see a snake's skin left on a branch. For insects, moulting is how they change their whole shape. A larva can turn into a winged adult. This is called metamorphosis.
Even crabs must moult their hard shells to grow. They often bury themselves for many weeks during this time. This is how they make room for a bigger body.
Moulting is a biological process where an animal casts off parts of its body for a beneficial purpose. This shedding can happen at specific times of the year or at certain stages in a life cycle. Animals may shed their epidermis, which is their skin, or their pelage, which includes hair, feathers, or fur. In many invertebrates, this process is known as ecdysis.
Historically, this was called "mewing," a term derived from the French verb "muer." This term is the reason for the name of Britain's Royal Mews, a place once used for keeping hawks during their moulting period.
In birds, moulting is the periodic replacement of feathers. Because feathers are dead structures once they reach maturity, they gradually wear down and must be replaced. This is a cyclical process involving several phases. First, the bird sheds some old feathers. Next, pin feathers grow in to replace them. As these pin feathers develop into full feathers, more old feathers are shed.
This process is usually symmetrical, meaning feather loss is equal on both sides of the body. Because feathers account for 4% to 12% of a bird's body weight, replacing them requires a large amount of energy. Consequently, birds often moult after the breeding season when food is still abundant.
Different types of birds exhibit different moulting patterns. Some birds produce postnuptial plumage, which is the plumage produced after the breeding season. In contrast, red-collared widowbirds undergo prenuptial moulting, where males replace nonbreeding plumage with breeding plumage. Some species may even undergo a "wing moult," where they become temporarily flightless. During this time, they must stay in protected habitats with reliable food.
For mallards, moulting flight feathers occurs in mid-summer to early fall. This allows males to replace brightly colored breeding plumage with eclipse plumage, which helps them hide from predators.
Reptiles and amphibians have their own unique methods for shedding. Squamates, such as snakes, have scaly skin that they must periodically shed. A snake often rubs its head against a hard object like a rock or wood to split its stretched skin. The snake then continues to rub until the skin peels back, allowing the animal to crawl out of it.
This process is similar to pulling a sock off a foot. Often, the snake leaves the skin in one piece, including the brille, which is the ocular scale. This helps maintain the animal's vision. Lizards, however, generally shed their skin in pieces. Amphibians like frogs and salamanders also moult regularly and often consume their shed skin for nutrients.
In the world of arthropods, moulting is essential for growth and transformation. This process, ecdysis, involves shedding the exoskeleton, or the hard outer shell. The old exoskeleton left behind is called an exuviae.
This process allows for metamorphosis, which is the radical change in body shape between different life stages. For example, a soft-bodied larva can transform into a winged, reproductive adult. In some species like mayflies, a winged subimago undergoes one last moult to become a winged adult. Some crustaceans, such as the Ovalipes catharus, must moult before they are able to mate.
Mammals also experience moulting, often driven by seasonal changes. Cats typically moult their fur during spring and summer to replace thick winter coats with thinner summer ones. Dogs and other canids often moult semi-annually in the spring and fall. This is not caused by temperature, but by fluctuations in melatonin secreted by the pineal gland in response to sunlight.
Arctic dog breeds are notable because they shed twice every year. Other small mammals, like guinea pigs, may moult constantly, while hamsters shed less frequently.
Scientists use various methods to study these biological cycles. Researchers can use field photography as a non-invasive way to observe bird moulting. They can also use stable hydrogen isotope analysis to investigate the evolutionary and ecological forces driving the process. A 2023 paleontological analysis suggested that moulting likely evolved late in the evolutionary lineage of birds. In commercial farming, some hens are "force-moulted" to increase egg production. This is done by withdrawing food for 7 to 28 days, causing a body weight loss of 25% to 35%. This process stimulates the hen to lose feathers and reinvigorates egg-laying.
Where will your curiosity go next?
🖼️ Images & Media (7)
More to explore
✨ What else?
Related topics you might enjoy
🔬 Go deeper
More advanced topics to explore
What is Nepedia?
A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.