dc.contributor.author |
Martins, Antonio F.
|
|
dc.contributor.author |
Bennett, Nigel Charles
|
|
dc.contributor.author |
Clavel, Sylvie
|
|
dc.contributor.author |
Groenewald, Hermanus B.
|
|
dc.contributor.author |
Hensman, Sean
|
|
dc.contributor.author |
Hoby, Stefan
|
|
dc.contributor.author |
Joris, Antoine
|
|
dc.contributor.author |
Manger, Paul R.
|
|
dc.contributor.author |
Milinkovitch, Michel C.
|
|
dc.date.accessioned |
2019-02-08T08:13:00Z |
|
dc.date.available |
2019-02-08T08:13:00Z |
|
dc.date.issued |
2018-10-02 |
|
dc.description.abstract |
An intricate network of crevices adorns the skin surface of the African bush elephant,
Loxodonta africana. These micrometre-wide channels enhance the effectiveness of thermal
regulation (by water retention) as well as protection against parasites and intense solar
radiation (by mud adherence). While the adaptive value of these structures is well established,
their morphological characterisation and generative mechanism are unknown. Using
microscopy, computed tomography and a custom physics-based lattice model, we show that
African elephant skin channels are fractures of the animal brittle and desquamation-deficient
skin outermost layer. We suggest that the progressive thickening of the hyperkeratinised
stratum corneum causes its fracture due to local bending mechanical stress in the troughs
of a lattice of skin millimetric elevations. The African elephant skin channels are therefore
generated by thickening of a brittle material on a locally-curved substrate rather than by a
canonical tensile cracking process caused by frustrated shrinkage. |
en_ZA |
dc.description.department |
Anatomy and Physiology |
en_ZA |
dc.description.department |
Mammal Research Institute |
en_ZA |
dc.description.librarian |
am2019 |
en_ZA |
dc.description.sponsorship |
Grants to M.C.M. from the University of Geneva (Switzerland), the
Swiss National Science Foundation (grants 31003A_140785 and SINERGIA
CRSII3_132430), the SystemsX.ch initiative (project EpiPhysX) and the Human Frontier
Science Program (HFSP RGP0019/2017). |
en_ZA |
dc.description.uri |
http://www.nature.com/ncomms |
en_ZA |
dc.identifier.citation |
Martins, A.F., Bennett, N.C., Clavel, S. et al. 2018, 'Locally-curved geometry generates bending cracks in the African elephant skin', Nature Communications, vol. 9, art. 3865, pp. 1-8. |
en_ZA |
dc.identifier.issn |
2041-1723 (online) |
|
dc.identifier.other |
10.1038/s41467-018-06257-3 |
|
dc.identifier.uri |
http://hdl.handle.net/2263/68437 |
|
dc.language.iso |
en |
en_ZA |
dc.publisher |
Nature Publising Group |
en_ZA |
dc.rights |
© 2018 [Author et al]. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0. |
en_ZA |
dc.subject |
Parasites |
en_ZA |
dc.subject |
African elephant skin |
en_ZA |
dc.subject |
Stratum corneum |
en_ZA |
dc.subject |
African elephant (Loxodonta africana) |
en_ZA |
dc.subject |
Tensile strength |
en_ZA |
dc.subject |
Skinfold thickness |
en_ZA |
dc.subject |
Skin surface |
en_ZA |
dc.subject |
Skin exfoliation |
en_ZA |
dc.subject |
Microscopy |
en_ZA |
dc.subject |
Keratinization |
en_ZA |
dc.subject |
Thermoregulation |
en_ZA |
dc.subject |
Animal tissue |
en_ZA |
dc.subject |
Tomography |
en_ZA |
dc.title |
Locally-curved geometry generates bending cracks in the African elephant skin |
en_ZA |
dc.type |
Article |
en_ZA |