Do Dogs Have A Uvula. Dogs have smooth palates rather than uvulas. In humans, a uvula is a small organ that hangs from the back of the throat.
Dogs don’t have a uvula, but their soft palate can protrude in a similar way. While dogs and people do not have an anatomically similar organ, both animals do have soft tissue that can grow over time to extend past where it naturally should be.
Which could create some confusion among those who are unfamiliar with dog anatomy or are mistaking it for a human uvula.
Do Dogs Have A Uvula
So the next time you’re asking yourself the question, “Do dogs have uvulas?” You can now confidently respond to that by saying no because it is not a myth! According to Dr. Martha Smith Williams, one will not find a uvula hanging inside a dog’s mouth, but rather a tough piece of tissue or muscular lining called the velum. Just like in our own bodies, this velum holds the soft “voice box” in place.
So when someone says that dogs don’t have uvulas which aren’t true it really means they don’t have what we humans refer to as uvulas.
Uvula
The uvula is a tiny piece of tissue located in the soft palate at the back of your throat. It contributes to human speech by adding to different sounds such as, “uh” and “ah.”
Dogs do not need uvulas because they don’t communicate in that way. There is limited information available about the purpose of this anatomical structure which led to the rumor that it served no purpose in humans. This may be true but there’s still much we can learn about their functions.
Which Animals Have Uvulas
Otolaryngologist Yehuda Finkelstein of Tel Aviv University looked for uvulas in nine different types of animals including baboons, sheep, and chimps.
Of animals with uvulas, baboons had the most developed version. We can conclude that humans are among few species that have a uvula.
Dogs Don’t Have Uvulas
Studies have been conducted on animals, mostly primates, in order to test for the function or presence of a uvula. In the past years, it has been discovered that most animals do have uvulas.
There are a few exceptions to this rule and some animals don’t, such as the New Guinea Singing Dog They are deemed as an accessory organ because this enables humans to be able to tell apart all other animals.
Can You Talk Without Uvula
The authors suggest something very interesting in their paper. They hypothesize that the uvula and its ability to speak might have a role in the speech process.
On the other hand, there are plenty of cases where people have an absent uvula from another health problem such as surgery or an infection.
But this study focuses on health problems not directly related to speech abilities, like an acquired uvula absence caused by a different illness.
FAQs
Do only humans have uvulas?
We concluded that the human uvula is indeed a distinguishing characteristic that separates us from other mammals, and our uvula presents itself in order to aid in speech development while also aiding our capability to make certain sounds related to speech.
Final Words For “Do Dogs Have A Uvula”
Dogs do not have uvulas. Humans are the only species in the world with them this is because we are the only primates that can speak. If you notice a bulge near your dog’s throat, it is not his uvula. The soft palate may sometimes appear longer than it actually is and can be mistaken for a uvula. If you ever come across something that looks like a uvula in your dog’s throat, contact your veterinarian immediately.