Ecology

Biology

Cleavage (geology)

Computer science

Paleontology

Merge (version control)

Anatomy

Trunk

Sagittal plane

Information retrieval

Fracture (geology)

Medicine

Dorsum

European Surgical Research

The pattern of skin cleavage lines in adult albino rats is described. Their direction in the skin of the trunk and limbs is circumferential around the long axes of these parts, although they may be longitudinal in the mid-sagittal dorsal skin of the trunk in animals with strongly flexed bodies. Ventral and dorsal triradiate loci are present where limb and trunk cleavage lines merge. On the head, the skin cleavage lines run in a longitudinal direction over the dorsum, but they surround the apertures for the eyes and ears and are never radial to them. There is a similarity between the usual direction of skin cleavage lines, the pattern of hair follicle locations, and the predominant orientations of dermal collagenous fibres, except in the region of the head. Changes in the direction of cleavage lines may arise as a result of movement of joints and after wound contraction. The orientation of incisions and their resulting scars should also be taken into consideration when evaluating experimental studies on wound healing.

Skin Cleavage Lines in the Rat