Comparative features of the Integumentary System
Roles of the Integument
Protection
● Primary role of the integument
● Dermal armors protects the internal organs from
mechanical injury
● Glands secrete slimy or noxious substances
● Pigments provide protective coloration
● Serves as barrier to the rays of the sun
● Claws, horns, spiny protuberances and needles
give protection
Exteroception
● Protective in its most primitive state
● Naked nerve endings are stimulated when foreign
objects contact the skin
> The only role of cutaneous receptors in
agnathans
● More complex receptors are found in other fishes
and tetrapods and highly used for survival
Respiration
● Supplements gills and lungs of many amphibians
(aquatic urodeles)
● Plethodontid salamander rely its respiration
entirely on the skin (they don t have gills or lungs)
● Scales andcornified epithelium are not conducive
for cutaneous respiration
Excretion
● CO 2 excretion in some aquatic amphibians
● Sweat glands are supplementary to
excretenitrogenous wastes
● Ammonia in fishes is easily diffused via gill
epithelium and other tissues exposed to water
Thermoregulation
● Function of the skin of endotherms (birds and
mammals)
● Fur and feather insulate against cold
● Sweat cools by evaporation
● Dilation of blood vessels within the dermis
increases heat loss by radiation
Locomotion
● Adhesive pads and claws assist in climbing
● Scutes assist in slithering
● Feathers provide airfoil
● Webbed feet for those that wade in water
● Webbed wings in bats enable them to fly
Maintenance of Homeostasis
● Reservoirs of calcium and phosphate molecules in
fishes
● Cornified epithelium of tetrapods conserve water
● Absorbs water under the influence of posterior
pituitary gland in aestivating lungfishes, toads and
other craniates
Nourishment
● Mucus secreted in some teleosts provide nutrition
to hatchlings
● Mammary glands provide nourishment to the
young
Pheromones and Skin Coloration
● Serves as species identification or serves as alarm
● Elaborate colorations help during breeding season
● Can be used as protection
General Structure and Development
Integument
● Forms the interface between the animals internal
environmentand the outside world
● Components
- Epithelial, connective adiposeand
smooth muscle tissues
- Blood vessels
- Glands
- Sensory receptors
- Nerves
- Other structures
Epidermis
● Stratified epithelium which developed from
embryonic ectoderm
● Rests on a basement membrane made up of
delicate fibrils and overlies the dermis
● Stratum germinativum consists of 1 to 2 mitotically
active, cuboidal cell layers located above the
basement membrane
● Cells move toward the body surface to differentiate
and are eventually sloughed off
● Keratin
- Water insoluble, horny protein that may fill the
cells and replace other organelles
- Best developed in terrestrial vertebrates keratin
filled cells form the stratum corneum
● Fishes and amphibians thin layer of epidermis
● Reptiles and mammals thick layer of epidermis
● Two types of covering
- Aquatic craniates thin coat of mucus
- Terrestrial craniates water impervious cornified
cells
● Gland cells epidermal in origin but invade the
dermis
- Aquatic craniates predominantly
unicellular
- Terrestrial craniates mostly multicellular
Dermis
● Develops from mesenchymal cells which are
mostly derived from mesodermal dermatome of
somites
● Basic component is collagen and elastic fibers
embedded in proteoglycans and other
macromolecules which holds other component in
place and provide tensile strength
● Other components:
- blood vessels, small nerves and pigment
cells
- Lymphatics
- Naked and encapsulated exteroceptors
- Bases of multicellular glands
- Bases of hairs or feathers and their
erector muscles
● Dermis is thicker than the epidermis in mature skin
and consists of two layers:
- Stratum laxum
 - Stratum compactum
Skin Derivatives
● Teeth, bony and horny scales, feathers and hair
develop
- result of epithelial mesenchymal
interactions between the dermis and
epidermis via neural crest cell migration
● Glands, feathers, hair and other keratinized
structures
- composed of epidermal cells in which
some parts invade the underlying dermis
● Superficial bones are dermal derivatives
● Teeth and bony scales are of epidermal and
dermal products
Skin Coloration and Its Functions
Chromatophores
● Cells that contain pigments found in all vertebrates
except albinos
● Develop from neural crests and are located in the
upper part of the dermis in fishes, amphibians and
reptiles
● They penetrate and are located in the epidermis
of birds and mammals
Melanophores
● Star-shaped, long, branching cells
containingmelanin
● Melanin granules may either be black, brown or
more yellow and reddish
- Synthesized and contained within
cellular organelles called melanosomes
● Melanin in birds and mammals transferred to
feather, hair and other epidermal derivatives
● Melanosomes in anamniotes and reptiles migrate
into processes of the melanophores (concentrating
the color)
Other Pigment Secreting Cells
● Iridophores or guanophores
- Contain crystalline chemochromes from guanine
- Generate iridescent colors because of the
diffraction of light within the stacked plates
● Leucophores
- Utilize crystalline purines (often guanine) to reflect
light
- Produce reflective white hues
● Xanthophores
- Contain yellow pigments composed of pteridines
● Erythrophores
- Contain reddish pigments composed of
carotenoids
- Vesicles containing pteridine and carotenoids are
sometimes found in the same cell
Dermal Chromatophore Unit
● Body appears:
- Darker if the melanin is well dispersed within the
processes of melanophore overlying the iridophore
- Yellowish if pigment is well dispersed in the
xanthophore
Turacoverdin and Turacin
● Turacoverdin
- Unique copper uroporphyrin pigment responsible
for the bright green coloration of several birds of
the family Musophagidae, most notably the turaco
- The only true green pigments found in birds
● Turacin
- Naturally occurring red pigment
- Found only in the bird family Musophagidae, the
turacos
Important Roles of Skin Coloration
● Can be concealing or cryptic helping an animal
hide from predators or enable a predator to stalk a
prey
● Can be aposematic where it advertises the
presence of dangerous, venomous or distasteful
species
● Also used for species recognition, establishment of
territories, courtship and other types of
communication
● Also help reptiles thermoregulate Important Roles
of Skin Coloration
Epidermis
- Integument of fishes is similar in its basic structure
- Epidermis is relatively thin, and most cells are
alive
- Surface cells are covered with microridges that
increase the surface area for exchange between
the animal and its environment
- Keratin may be deposited in limited areas such as
horny teeth of cyclostomes and tubercles that
develop in many fishes during mating season
Unicellular Epidermal Glands :Goblet Cells
- Secrete only mucus
- Forms a mucous cuticle and a generally slimy
surface together with secretion of surface cells
- Reduce water exchanges between the fish and
and its environment and helps the excretory
system maintains a stable internal environment
- Protects the body from bacterial invasion and
attachment of ectoparasites
Unicellular Epidermal Glands :Granular Cells
- Secrete mucus and additional ingredients mostly
of unknown functions
- Alkaloids which are products of granular cells are
not common
- Some contains and alarm substance is released
when the fish is injured, and the skin is ruptured
; act as a pheromone and triggers a fight
reaction in nearby members of the species
Multicellular Epidermal Glands
 - Relatively uncommon in fishes
- Hagfishes have large slime glands
- Some teleosts have poison glands that produce
toxic materials and are often associated with fin
spines
Photophores
- Light-emitting glands in deep-sea teleosts
- Upper part of the gland consists of modified
mucous cells acting as magnifying lens and lower
parts contains are light-emitting cells
- Cells below are in contact with melanophores and
in blood cells which is the source of raw materials
; luciferase + luciferin = light
- The light is not intense and usually of many hues
- Functions for:
1. Species and sex identification
2. Lure prey in carnivores or is a warning
that it is a carnivore
3. Concealment by countershading
Epidermis of Agnathans
- Highly mitotic, multi-layered epidermis with
unicellular mucous glands
- No keratinized or cornified layer
- Horny denticles on buccal funnel or teeth are the
only keratinized structures
Epidermis of Cartilagnous Fishes
- Multi-layered than aganathans
- Not as much as unicellular glands except in
chimeras
- Localized glands:
; goblet cells- sting rays
; multcellular glands - male claspers
- Photophores in the dermis are modified epidermal
glands that last connection with the epidermis
Epidermis of Bony Fishes
- Top layer composed of stratified epidermal cells
that do not undergo keratinization
- Lowermost layer is the basal layer ; stratum basale
- Glands are mostly unicellular (mucous coat on
skin ) with dew multicellular and granular glands
- Photophores for recognition or warning
Dermis
- Collagen fibers are generally more regularly
arranged than of other vertebrates
- Develop in layers that spiral around the body in
appro 45 degrees angle to the longitudinal axis
with adjacent layers perpendicular to each other
- Fiber arrangement strengthens the skin so that
body shapes maintained during swimming
- Acts as exotendon transmitting muscular force
Dermal Scales
- Lampreys and hagfish lack scales
- Scales evolved separately in the cartilaginous and
bony fishes
- Types :
1. Placoid
2. Cosmoid
3. Ganoid
4. Elasmoid
- Ganoid and Elasmoid : scales of bony fishes with
only two layers, (1) calcified and (2) fibrous
Placoid scales
- Scales of sharks and rays
- Made of bone and resemble teeth
- Do not grow with the animals
- They are of a single size
- Have a soft central area (the pulp), a middle layer
of dentine and a hard outer layer of enamel ;
similar to teeth
- When the animal grows, space opens up and new
denticles grow to fill
- Do not overlap as do the scales of bony fishes
- Most sharks have a complete covering of denticles
arranged in a repeating diamond pattern
- Species that are dorsoventrally flattened such as
the skates and rays have many fewer denticles
Cosmoid scales
- Found only on the Ceolocanths (Latimeria sp.) or
as fossils
- Scales of bony fish with four layers:
(1) Dense bone,
(2) Spongy bone
(3) Dentine and
(4) Enamel
Ganoid scales - 2 layers
- Derived from cosmoid scales
- Found on Birchirs, Gars, and Sturgeons
- Hard solid scales
Elasmoid scale - 2 layers
- Most common form of scale ; in modern fishes,
teleosts
- Thin plate tha you find on most fishes
- Two types of elasmoid scales
1. Ctenoid - have a set of fine teeth along
posterior edge, and
2. Cycloid - simply rounded on the outer/
posterior edge
- Sea Perches (Epinephelus sp.) - have mostly
ctenoid scales above the lateral line and cycloid
below
- Dabs (Limanda sp.) - have ctenoid scales on the
upper colored surface and cycloid scales on the
lower white surface
Scales of Modern Fish
- Embedded in the dermis and are covered entirely
by the epidermis
- Grow as the fish grow
- Scale patterns show how old a fish is and also
how many times it has spawned and it has been
seriously ill
- E.g. sea perches, lapu-lapu (Epinephelus sp.), and
dabs, flounder, (Limands sp.)
Amphibian integument
Epidermis
- Skin of amphibian is relatively thin but
epidermal cells synthesize keratin
 - As it accumulates, cells die and the
stratum corneum is formed
; seldom more than 1 to 2 layers thick to
allow cutaneous respiration
; desquamated periodically and is
hormonally controlled
; not sloughed off in toads and they just
continually pile up
- Highly granular ; glands aid in survival of
land-adapted anurans
- Cornified appendages are rare
Epidermal Glands
- Mostly muticelluar mucus or glanular glands
- Tailed aquatic amphibians have the most number
of multicellular glands
; Secretions keep the skin moist when they are on
lands
- Glands on digits serves as holdfasts in trees or
glands in thumbpads during breeding season
serves as restraint for females
Glanular Glands
- Present in toads
- Secrete irritating alkaloids which are defensive in
nature or pheromones used during breeding
- Restricted to a localized are of the body
Keratin
- Aquatic urodeles have thin dessication-impending
stratum of cornified cells
- Anurans have tadpoles have horny tooth like
structures which is shed during metamorphosis
Dermis
- Firmly attached to underlying muscles in
apodans and urodeles
- Anurans have lymph sinuses separating it from
muscles
- Dermal chromatophores in other species can elicit
color change
- Bony scales (osteoderms) present in head of
caecilians and a few tropical toads at the back
Reptile Integument
- Show more advanced integumental adaptations to
terrestrial environment because they are more
far-removed from the water
- The cells are more highly keratinized
- The integument is modified into horny scales in
snakes and lizards
Epidermis
- Represent the ultimate adaptation of craniate skin
for surviving in an arid (very dry) and hostile
environment
- With amy locallized modifications: horny scales,
scutes, beaks, rattles, claws, plaques and spiny
crests found on the stratum corneum
- In snakes, the scales on the ventral surface can be
further modified into scutes, which can be used in
locomotion
- In turtles, the epidermis is strongly modified into
plates that cover the shell, and because they
increase in diameter each year, they can be used
to age the animals
Molting or Shedding
- Initiated by the release of prothoracicotropic
hormone (PITH) a neuropeptide from the brain of
reptiles
- Removal of the epidermal as a whole
- The skin appears slightly dull as the separation
between old and new skin begins
- The shedding differs from species to species
- Turtles shed in pieces
; they will slough skin on their neck and legs as
well as old scutes
- Lizards also shed their skin in pieces and some
lizards sloughed skin
- Iguanas shed their skin in pieces on the outside of
their bodies except for their eyeballs
- Snakes shed their skin in one piece except for the
giants snakes which may tear their skin
Dermis
- Osteoderm (dermal bone)
; bony deposits forming scales, plates or other
structures based/rooted in the dermis
- Turtles - carapace, plastron and lateral bridges
; soft- shelled and leatherback turtles lack dermal
ossificaton
- Crocodiles and some lizards- osteoderms in
localized regions of the body (gastalia in
ventrolateral abdominal wall)
- Snakes- osteoderm is absent
Avian Integument
- Scales only present at the feet and base of the
beak
- Claws are present on the toes and one or two on
digits of the wings
- Glands are generally lacking except:
; uropygial glands at the tail base for preening
; oil glands at outer ear canal of domesticated
birds
Avian Oil or Glnds or Uropygial Gland
- Prominent swelling at the rump behind the
pygostyle
- Largest in aquatic birds and in domestic fowl
- Oil which is water-repellent is used for preening
- Smaller oil glands are found in outer ear canal and
sometimes in the vent area
Bird Feathers
- Called as elaborate reptilian scales
- Presence of epidermal scales along the legs and
feet of birds testifies to their debt to reptiles
Dermis
- Near the feather follicles is richly supplied with
blood vessles, sensory nerve endings, and smooth
muscles
- Dermis in the breast of some birds become
increasingly vascularized during the brooding
season forming a brood patch
 - Provides warmth to the incubated eggs
Epidermis
- Comprises of the stratum basale and corneum
- Between them is the transitional layer of cells
transformed into the keratinized surface of the
corneum
Bird feathers
- Principally of the epidermis and the keratinizing
system
- Laid our alng the distinctive trracts (pterylae) on
the surface of the body
- Nonvascular and non-nervous
- Rachis
; tubular central shaft which carries on either side
a vane a series of barbs
; continues proximally as the barbless calamus,
which anchors on the feather to the body and often
is moved by attached dermal muscles
- Contour feather, or pennaceous feathers
; cover the body and usually have symmetrical
vanes about a rachis , adult
- Down feathers, or plumulaceous feathers
; lack a distinctive rachs and non-interlocking
barbs extend out from the calamus as a fluffy
feather important in insulation , chicks
Dermis
- Supports feather follicles and erector, depressor,
retractor and rotator muscles
- Feathers are cornified appendages first developed
for the insulation and is a modified scale
- No osteoderms (except in gamefowls with a spur
of dermal bone of the ankle)
Mammalian Integument
Epidermis
- Stratum germinativum ; basal layers
- Stratum granulosum; with keratohyaline
- Stratum corneum
; highly keratinized,
; gives rise to scales (armadillos and pangolins),
claws (hoof and flat nails) and horns,
; thickest on parts appendages in contact with
surfaces(palms, hooves, feet)
- Stratum lucidum - present in palm and scale
Hair
- Distinctive characteristic of mammals cornified
epidermal appendages
- Provides insulation as well as some additional
protection to the animals
- Grow in follicles derived from the stratum
germinativum of the epidermis but are rooted in
the dermis
- Continues to grow until the mitosis in the roof
stops
- Three layers; medulla, cortex and cuticular scale
(contain a lot of keratin)
- Softer hairs (such as our fine body hairs) lack a
medulla
- Scalp hair contains a medulla and is usually very
strong
- Modification of hair
; guard hairs ( protect the undercoat hair)
; quills ( such as hedgehog and porcupines)
; vibrissae (the tactile whiskers on the snouts of
mammals)
Integumental derivatives: Nails
- Grow form the nail bed located in the epidermis of
the distal part of the phalanges
- Highly cornified in ungulates
- In clawed animals the nail is elongated and
thickened for defense or predation
Integumental derivatives: Horns and Antlers
Horns
- Supported by a bony structure growing out from
the skull
- Surrounding the bony core is a highly keratinized
layer of the epidermis which is generally
permanent
Antlers
- Not present throughout the year
- Shed during the non-breeding seasons
- Develop under a protective covering of skin
(velvet) which is lost as the antlers mature
Rhinoceros horns
- Hairlike keratin fibers woven together without a
bony core - similar to ballen in whales that is used
for feeding
Epidermal Glands
- Help to protect the skin and its associated
structures
- Aid in heat regulation
- Give off scent
Classification is based on:
Structure
- Tubular, coiled, alveolar (grape-like)
- Simple , compound
Substance secreted
- Merocrine - mucus and sweat glands
- Apocrine - mammary and ceruminous glands
(milk, ear wax)
- Holocrine - sebaceous glands
Mucous Glands
- Generally , absent in tetrapods except in mammals
- Last survival value when skin become covered
with cornified cells
Sebaceous Glands
- Present where there are hairs and sebum is
excluded into hair follicles
- Ceruminous glands secrete cerumen in outer ear
- Meibomian glands assist in lubrication of
conjunctiva of the eye
Sudoriferous or Sweat Glands
- Furry animals- feet of cat and mice, lips of rabbits
and side of head and bats
- Hippopotamus- only on the ears
- Absent in pangolins and echidnas
- Ciliary glands is one example
Scent glands
- Apocrine sweat glands have thicker secretions
 - Contain more odor, sometimes modified into scent
glands in some species
- Used for sent making (dogs) or defense (skunks)
Mammary Glands
- Compound alveolar glands that develop in both
sexes along the milk
- Number and location (axillary, thoracic, abdominal
and inguinal) is dependent on the animal species
- Oxytocin (hormone stored in posterior pituitary
gland) is responsible for milk-let down
Dermis
- Very thick- hair follicles, erector muscle, numerous
glands, connective tissue, vascular tissue, nervous
tissue
- Dermal bones of armadillos
- Antlers and giraffe horns
- Superficial fascia separates the dermis from
underlying muscles
- Blubber is a type of contour-shaping adipose
tissue found in cetaceans to replace hair