page_title: Nape
hierarchical_section_title: Nape
caption_attribution_description: Tortoiseshell cat carrying her kitten up a flight of stairs (cropped photo). She grips the kitten's scruff in her teeth.
context_page_description: The nape is the back of the neck. In technical anatomical/medical terminology, the nape is also called the nucha; the corresponding adjective is nuchal, as in the term nuchal rigidity.
  In many mammals, the nape is the site of the scruff, a loose, non-sensitive area of skin by which the mother can carry her young, holding the scruff between her teeth. In domestic cats, the scruff is used when a mother cat transfers her kittens, either by carrying them away from danger or to a new nest or den site, and in mating, when the male cat grips the female cat's scruff with his teeth to help keep her relatively immobile. See Pinch-induced behavioral inhibition.
context_section_description: The nape  is the back of the neck.  In technical anatomical/medical terminology, the nape is also called the nucha (from Latin); the corresponding adjective is nuchal, as in the term nuchal rigidity. 
  In many mammals, the nape is the site of the scruff, a loose, non-sensitive area of skin by which the mother can carry her young, holding the scruff between her teeth.  In domestic cats, the scruff is used when a mother cat transfers her kittens, either by carrying them away from danger or to a new nest or den site (carrying each kitten by gripping its scruff in her teeth), and in mating, when the male cat (tom) grips the female cat's scruff with his teeth to help keep her relatively immobile.  See Pinch-induced behavioral inhibition.
caption: Cat carrying her kitten by the scruff
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