Biology Paper (The color and Thickness of Head Hair of a Turkish Male)

Abstract

Mammalian hair is structured into various components. This paper aims to establish the structural characteristics of mammalian hair. The most basic structure is the medulla, the cortex, and the cuticle. The paper also explores the other substructures of hair among the three main structures. The research paper also includes pictures describing the various structures of hair that have been highlighted herein. The differences in structure between different types of hair has also been captured and real examples of species with those structural variations in morphology provided. The findings of this paper were arrived from the poster project based on the color and thickness of head hair of a Turkish mail and through performing academic research in credible sources of information such as journals. Informative internet websites were also included in the research. Research results from our own group experiment related to biological imaging and other experiments related to mammalian hair observations have also been used in establishing the facts of the paper. Different types of mammalian hair from different species was observed under a microscope and the observations recorded. The paper establishes the structural microscopic differences in the structure human hair from different species of animals such as difference in the medulla and the cuticle. These differences are useful in telling species apart by using microscopic characteristics of hair.

Keywords

Hair shaft, Hair structure, Cortex, Cuticle, Curl pattern, Imbricate scales, coronal scales.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to acknowledge the work of all authors in the various journal articles used for this research. I also acknowledge the Turkish male whose hair was used either directly or indirectly to contribute towards this paper.

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INTRODUCTION

Hair is the slender outgrowth from the skin of most mammals through the skin follicle. A growing hair originates from the papilla and is made up of dead, cornified cells. Basically, hair is made up of a protein called keratin and a black pigment known as melanin which gives color to the skin. It is not uncommon to find trace elements of metals in hair and melanin. Such elements of metals are usually deposited in the hair at the time of growth or they can be absorbed into the hair from external pollutants. Once hair is grown, it goes into telophase or resting stage after which the hair is shed. Mammalian hair from different parts of the body has different structures. This makes it necessary to compare mammalian hair structure from the same place of the body. For example, in an experiment to examine the structure of a mammalian hair, the following procedure can be used;

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Materials

grains of mammalian hair.

Methods

· Place the sample of human hair under a microscope.

· Using a Zeiss Discovery V12 microscope

· Starting with an objective lens of 63x*13.8x observe the specimen then move to 63x*79x

· Record the observations.

RESULTS

The structure of the hair was separated into the medulla, the cortex, and the cuticle. The hair was divided into the cuticle and the cortex with an absent or fragmented medulla. The cuticle and the medulla of different shapes were observed. Dark areas of pigment granules were also observed. The human hair appeared to have been discolored, appearing more of a lighter brown color than the subject original hair. In addition, hair shafts examined portrayed small brown bumps along the shaft of the follicle as well as small distortions to the outside of the shaft, appearing rough in texture.

Cuticle Classification of Hairs

DISCUSSION

The structure of human hair is divided into three major parts; the cortex, the medulla, and the cuticle. The medulla forms the center-most part of the hair. It is made up of shrunken epithelial cells. (Hausman, n.d). Sometimes, these cells fill the medullary column to form a continuous medulla. Otherwise, the medulla may be absent as seen in many Caucasian people or fragmented. (Morioka, n.d.). The discontinuous medulla may be simple or compound. The simple medulla may be further subdivided into ovate, elongate, and flattened discontinuous medulla. The compound medulla may be subdivided into the ovate and the flattened medulla. (Hausman, n.d). The continuous medulla can be subdivided into the nodose and the homogenous. The cortex is the region that surrounds the medulla. It is main body of hair and is made up of long fused cells that form a homogenous hyaline mass. In mammalian hair that lacks the medulla, the cortex occupies the most parts of the hair shaft where the medulla is to be found. The cuticle forms the outermost layer of the hair shaft. (Hausman, n.d).

Pigment granules provide color to the hair. These can be scattered or regular. The depth and intensity of color due to the pigments may also vary from mammal to mammal. Humans may have banding which is several colors changes within a short distance of the hair. The density in pigmentation also increases towards the medulla. In humans, the pigmentation is evenly distributed and is denser towards the cuticle. The cuticular scales may be further be grouped as ovate, acuminate, elongate, crenate, or flattened. Mammalian hairs can be circular or elliptical. Generally, straight hairs have a circular cross section while curly and kinky hairs have an elliptical cross section. The amount of curliness is largely dependent on the flatness of the ellipse. Scales exist on the cuticles of hairs and may vary in shape and arrangement across the mammalian species.

The scales on the cuticle are always pointing from the root side of the hair towards the tip of the hair. (Yasser, Safwat, & Ahmed, 2018). Imbricate scales have a flat pattern and the scales are close together. This can be seen in human hairs and that of dogs. The other type of scales is the coronal scales. The scale can be identified as surrounding the hair completely. (Yasser, Safwat, & Ahmed, 2018). They can be further subdivided into serrated and dentate scales. This type of scales resembles stacked crowns and may be found in the hair of mammals such as bats. Spinous scales will have petal-shaped pattern and can be found in the hair of rabbits. (Yasser, Safwat, & Ahmed, 2018). The most common type of mammalian scales are the crenate and flattened types while the least encountered type of scale is the cuticular scale. (Yasser, Safwat, & Ahmed, 2018).

Conclusion

Human hairs have a similar but different hair structure compared to other mammals. This hair style can help us to tell the difference between human and animal hairs as well as the difference between humans of different races. Furthermore, different types of animals can be separated by use of hair structure as they have major differences.

The basic structure of mammalian hair.

Hair cuticle scales morphology

Scale structure: Coronal, Spinous, and Imbricate

For instance, racial characteristics of hair may also help us to microscopically classify hair on the basis of Caucasian, Asian, or African ancestral origin. In some instances, the characteristics of hair may not be distinct from another race which makes us establish the interaction between races and mixed ancestral origin of that person.

References

Hausman, L. (n.d). Structural Characteristics Of The Hair Of Mammals. Retrieved from https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/279782

Imbricate – Crime scene investigation. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://hannahc12.wordpress.com/tag/imbricate/

Morioka, K. (n.d.). Hair follicle. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=yjYzq0sj4JgC&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=med ulla +in+caucasian+discontinuo

Understanding hair structure. (2019, August 13). Retrieved from https://uk.lush.com/article/understanding-hair-structure

Yasser, A., Safwat, A., & Ahmed, G. (2018). Histology As A Tool For Forensic Identification Of Some Domestic Animal Species. Retrieved from: https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1807/1807.02668.pdf