Fraction of body surface covered by hairy skin

Range >90 %
Organism Human Homo sapiens
Reference Zimmerman A et al., The gentle touch receptors of mammalian skin. Science. 2014 Nov 21 346(6212):950-4. doi: 10.1126/science.1254229. p.950 left column bottom paragraphPubMed ID25414303
Comments P.950 left column bottom paragraph: "Mammalian skin comprises both hairy and nonhairy, or glabrous, skin. Glabrous skin is predominantly found on the hands and feet of most mammals. In this context, glabrous skin is specialized for discriminative touch, determining texture and shape to accurately recognize objects and providing feedback to the central nervous system to mediate proper grip control, reaching, and locomotion. Hairy skin covers more than 90% of the body surface. It also serves a discriminative touch role, albeit with considerably lower spatial acuity as compared with nonhairy skin. Hairy skin is strongly associated with affective touch—that is, touch that evokes an emotional response, such as during nurturing. Other types of skin are highly specialized for the functional roles they play."
Entered by Uri M
ID 112605