Locally-curved geometry generates bending cracks in the African elephant skin

dc.contributor.authorMartins, Antonio F.
dc.contributor.authorBennett, Nigel Charles
dc.contributor.authorClavel, Sylvie
dc.contributor.authorGroenewald, Hermanus B.
dc.contributor.authorHensman, Sean
dc.contributor.authorHoby, Stefan
dc.contributor.authorJoris, Antoine
dc.contributor.authorManger, Paul R.
dc.contributor.authorMilinkovitch, Michel C.
dc.date.accessioned2019-02-08T08:13:00Z
dc.date.available2019-02-08T08:13:00Z
dc.date.issued2018-10-02
dc.description.abstractAn 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.departmentAnatomy and Physiologyen_ZA
dc.description.departmentMammal Research Instituteen_ZA
dc.description.librarianam2019en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorshipGrants 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.urihttp://www.nature.com/ncommsen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationMartins, 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.issn2041-1723 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.1038/s41467-018-06257-3
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/68437
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherNature Publising Groupen_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.subjectParasitesen_ZA
dc.subjectAfrican elephant skinen_ZA
dc.subjectStratum corneumen_ZA
dc.subjectAfrican elephant (Loxodonta africana)en_ZA
dc.subjectTensile strengthen_ZA
dc.subjectSkinfold thicknessen_ZA
dc.subjectSkin surfaceen_ZA
dc.subjectSkin exfoliationen_ZA
dc.subjectMicroscopyen_ZA
dc.subjectKeratinizationen_ZA
dc.subjectThermoregulationen_ZA
dc.subjectAnimal tissueen_ZA
dc.subjectTomographyen_ZA
dc.titleLocally-curved geometry generates bending cracks in the African elephant skinen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA

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