Topic: Paws and Feet

Posted under Tag/Wiki Projects and Questions

In my view, feet are plantigrade and human-like. Paws are digitigrade with paw pads and maybe claws. However, there are plenty of posts with characters who have plantigrade feet, but with paw pads and claws, such as post #2167229. In that case, which do you tag, feet or paws? Also, the feet wiki page is vague.

What are your views on this?

Updated by Fluffball

I judge paws by the shape. If they're slender and dextrous like human hands/feet they're probably not paws. Digitigrade is mostly considered separately except that people almost always depict it with paws.
So digitigrade =(usually)=> paws, but the reverse is not as strong.

I'd say that post has paws to me. Pawpads + all fat toes seems like enough to qualify it.

Updated by anonymous

The way I figure it, it's hands or paws. Hands have nails (or nothing) and paws have claws.

Feet are feet, whether they come with nails or claws. Though an annoyingly cutesy term, footpaws would refer to the end part of the foot of a pawed individual, specifically the equivalent of human toes and balls of the foot but not the arches, heel, or ankle. Basically, footpaws are where the pawpads are found on pawed folk. Non-pawed characters (ie. no claws) don't have footpaws. Digitgrade and plantigrade stances don't really need to factor in.

However, for simplicity's sake in tagging, I'd stick with hands and feet and not bother with paws and footpaws.

Updated by anonymous

I rewrote the feet wiki to better specify its usage. It's probably not perfect.

I wasn't sure if clothing being worn over the feet mattered or not. I left that part of the wiki vague. It can be written more clearly to suggest that footwear and socks over the feet do not matter.

As for the example in question, that looks like a hybrid of a humanoid foot and a paw. I would say it's more like a paw though. Plantigrade paws do exist in many species of mammal including raccoons, bears, rabbits, and rodents (includes squirrels).

Updated by anonymous

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