Biomaterial Database

Epidermal growth in the bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus. 1985

B D Hicks, and D J St Aubin, and J R Geraci, and W R Brown

Epidermal growth in two mature female bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, was investigated by following the movement of a cohort of tritiated thymidine-labeled epidermal cells for 59 days. The majority of the cells migrated in a cluster which was estimated to reach the skin surface in 73 days. We calculate that the outermost cell layer is sloughed 12 times per day. Turnover time and sloughing rate are estimated to be 1.7 times longer and 8.5 times faster than the respective values for epidermal cell kinetics in humans. This apparent inconsistency of slow transit time and rapid sloughing rate is reconciled by the convoluted structure of the stratum germinativum in the dolphin which results in a ratio of germinatival to superficial cells of 876:1. The stratum germinativum of dolphin epidermis appears to lack morphologically distinct, spatially segregated subpopulations of anchoring and stem cells. Dolphin epidermis has a large capacity for cell population, relatively long turnover time, and rapid sloughing rate. The adaptive advantages of these characteristics are discussed.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007700	Kinetics	The rate dynamics in chemical or physical systems.
D002455	Cell Division	The fission of a CELL. It includes CYTOKINESIS, when the CYTOPLASM of a cell is divided, and CELL NUCLEUS DIVISION.	M Phase,Cell Division Phase,Cell Divisions,Division Phase, Cell,Division, Cell,Divisions, Cell,M Phases,Phase, Cell Division,Phase, M,Phases, M
D002465	Cell Movement	The movement of cells from one location to another. Distinguish from CYTOKINESIS which is the process of dividing the CYTOPLASM of a cell.	Cell Migration,Locomotion, Cell,Migration, Cell,Motility, Cell,Movement, Cell,Cell Locomotion,Cell Motility,Cell Movements,Movements, Cell
D004289	Dolphins	Mammals of the families Delphinidae (ocean dolphins), Iniidae, Lipotidae, Pontoporiidae, and Platanistidae (all river dolphins). Among the most well-known species are the BOTTLE-NOSED DOLPHIN and the KILLER WHALE (a dolphin). The common name dolphin is applied to small cetaceans having a beaklike snout and a slender, streamlined body, whereas PORPOISES are small cetaceans with a blunt snout and rather stocky body. (From Walker's Mammals of the World, 5th ed, pp978-9)	Amazon Dolphins,Baiji,Cephalorhynchus,Chinese River Dolphin,Delphinidae,False Killer Whale,Franciscana,Fraser's Dolphin,Ganges Dolphin,Gray Grampus,Humpback Dolphins,Irrawaddy River Dolphin,La Plata Dolphin,Lagenorhynchus,Lissodelphis,Many-Toothed Blackfish,Marine Dolphins,Melon-Headed Whale,Ocean Dolphins,Piebald Dolphins,Platanista,Pontoporia blainvillei,Pygmy Killer Whale,Right Whale Dolphins,Risso's Dolphin,Rough-Toothed Dolphin,Sousa,Susus,Tucuxi Dolphin,Whale, False Killer,Whale, Melon-Headed,Whale, Pygmy Killer,White-Beaked Dolphins,Amazon River Dolphins,Atlantic White-Sided Dolphins,Feresa attenuata,Ganges River Dolphin,Grampus griseus,Inia geoffrensis,Lagenodelphis hosei,Lagenorhynchus acutus,Lagenorhynchus albirostris,Langenorhynchus obliquidens,Lipotes vexillifer,Orcaella brevirostris,Pacific White-Sided Dolphins,Peponocephala electra,Planista gangetica,Pseudorca crassidens,Sotalia fluviatilis,Steno bredanensis,Yangtze River Dolphin,Atlantic White Sided Dolphins,Atlantic White-Sided Dolphin,Baijus,Dolphin,Dolphin, Fraser's,False Killer Whales,Franciscanas,Fraser Dolphin,Frasers Dolphin,Humpback Dolphin,Lagenodelphis hoseus,Lagenorhynchus albirostri,Langenorhynchus obliquiden,Lissodelphi,Many Toothed Blackfish,Marine Dolphin,Melon Headed Whale,Melon-Headed Whales,Ocean Dolphin,Orcaella brevirostri,Pacific White Sided Dolphins,Pacific White-Sided Dolphin,Piebald Dolphin,Planista gangeticas,Platanistas,Pontoporia blainvilleus,Pseudorca crassiden,Pygmy Killer Whales,Right Whale Dolphin,Risso Dolphin,Rissos Dolphin,Rough Toothed Dolphin,Rough-Toothed Dolphins,Sotalia fluviatili,Tucuxi Dolphins,White Beaked Dolphins,White-Beaked Dolphin
D005260	Female		Females
D000078404	Epidermal Cells	Cells from the outermost, non-vascular layer (EPIDERMIS) of the skin.	Epidermal Cell,Epidermic Cells,Cell, Epidermal,Cell, Epidermic,Cells, Epidermic,Epidermic Cell
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D001345	Autoradiography	The making of a radiograph of an object or tissue by recording on a photographic plate the radiation emitted by radioactive material within the object. (Dorland, 27th ed)	Radioautography
D012867	Skin	The outer covering of the body that protects it from the environment. It is composed of the DERMIS and the EPIDERMIS.
D013936	Thymidine	A nucleoside in which THYMINE is linked to DEOXYRIBOSE.	2'-Deoxythymidine,Deoxythymidine,2' Deoxythymidine