philtrum
Sign in to saveAlso known as medial cleft
The philtrum (, from Ancient Greek , lit. 'love charm') or medial cleft is a vertical indentation in the middle area of the upper lip, common to therian mammals, extending in humans from the nasal septum to the tubercle of the upper lip. Together with a glandular rhinarium and slit-like nostrils, it is believed to constitute the primitive condition for at least therian mammals. Monotremes lack a philtrum, though this could be due to the specialised, beak-like jaws in living species.
Key facts
- Anatomy.Name
- Philtrum
- Anatomy.Image
- Baby mouth.jpg
- Anatomy.Caption
- Philtrum of a healthy, one-month-old baby
- Anatomy.Image2
- Dog philtrum.png
- Anatomy.Caption2
- Philtrum of a domestic dog (marked in red)
- Anatomy.Precursor
- Medial nasal prominence
via Wikipedia infobox
~4 min read
Encyclopedic overview
6 sectionsContents
- Function
- Development
- Variation
- Society and culture
- See also
- References
The philtrum (, from Ancient Greek , lit. 'love charm') or medial cleft is a vertical indentation in the middle area of the upper lip, common to therian mammals, extending in humans from the nasal septum to the tubercle of the upper lip. Together with a glandular rhinarium and slit-like nostrils, it is believed to constitute the primitive condition for at least therian mammals. Monotremes lack a philtrum, though this could be due to the specialised, beak-like jaws in living species.
==Function== In most mammals, the philtrum is a narrow groove that may carry dissolved odorants from the rhinarium or nose pad to the vomeronasal organ via ducts inside the mouth.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “philtrum” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.