Keratin composites enable animals to walk with hooves, fly with wings, and sense their environment through their skin. Mammalian whiskers consist of elongated keratin rods attached to specialized tactile structures, enhancing the animal’s sensory perception. A recent study conducted by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems aims to explore the structure, porosity, and stiffness of the whiskers found in the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus).

Schulz et al. investigated the whiskers of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) to determine their geometric and mechanical adaptations for enhanced tactile sensitivity, which encodes contact location through vibrotactile signals. Image credit: Schulz et al., doi: 10.1126/science.adx8981.

Whiskers in mammals, resembling elongated keratin rods, serve as sophisticated sensory tools.

While the keratin material itself does not directly sense touch, whiskers are housed within hair follicles, surrounded by dense sensory neurons that translate subtle mechanical vibrations into nerve signals.

Previous research primarily focused on the shape and movement of whiskers, often assuming a uniform mechanical structure along their length.

However, emerging evidence suggests that the stiffness and internal composition of whiskers can differ from root to tip, highlighting the importance of material properties in tactile sensation.

Unlike many other mammals, elephants possess numerous immobile whiskers distributed over the thick skin of their highly skilled trunks.

Though these whiskers cannot move independently, they frequently interact with objects, enabling elephants to perform precise tasks, from delicate manipulations to food handling.

Given the immobility of their whiskers, Dr. Andrew Schultz and colleagues hypothesized that elephants rely on variations in the shape and material structure of their whiskers to enhance tactile perception.

The researchers employed techniques such as micro-CT imaging, electron microscopy, mechanical testing, and functional modeling to examine the shape, porosity, and stiffness of whiskers in both juvenile and adult Asian elephants.

Findings reveal that the material properties of elephant whiskers transition from thick, porous, and rigid roots to thin, dense, and soft tips.

Dr. Schultz noted, “Tapping the handrail with different parts of the whisker wand felt soft at the tip and sharp at the base. I could easily feel where contact occurred without even looking.”

These functional gradients significantly influence how mechanical vibrations are relayed to sensory neurons, enhancing the clarity and strength of tactile signals.

Specifically, the transition from a firm base to a softer tip amplifies signal power, aiding elephants in accurately determining contact locations along the whisker, which is crucial for navigation and fine manipulation.

In this manner, elephant whiskers exhibit a type of built-in or “physical” intelligence, optimizing sensation through intelligent material design without needing active movement.

This exciting discovery is driving the authors’ efforts to apply natural insights into advancements in robotics and intelligent systems.

“Bio-inspired sensors that replicate elephant-like stiffness gradients could provide precise information with minimal computational cost, simply by leveraging intelligent material design,” Dr. Schultz stated.

The team’s groundbreaking research was published in the Journal on February 12, 2026, in Science.

_____

Andrew K. Schultz et al. 2026. Functional gradients drive tactile sensation in elephant whiskers. Science 391 (6786): 712-718; doi: 10.1126/science.adx8981