Integument

integument

Covering of the body, which protects it from the outside world and from drying out. In humans and other mammals it consists of the skin (including outer epidermis and inner dermis) and its related structures, including hair, nails, and sebaceous and sweat glands.

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integument

1. the protective layer around an ovule that becomes the seed coat

2. the outer protective layer or covering of an animal, such as skin or a cuticle

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integument [in′teg·yə·mənt]

(anatomy)

An outer covering, especially the skin, together with its various derivatives.

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Integument 

the part of the ovary on seed plants that encloses the nucellus (the central part of the ovary). The ovaries of a number of plants have one integument, while others, particularly in the monocotyledonous plants, have two. After fertilization the integument turns into a seed coat.

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Integument 

in animals, including man, the tissues that cover the body and perform protective, tactile, metabolic (including gas exchange), and excretory functions. The integument sometimes performs the function of feeding, associated with the complete reduction of the intestine in tapeworms, acanthocepha-lans, and Pogonophora. Thermoregulation is sometimes a function of the integument.

In most invertebrates the integument consists of cutaneous epithelium, or epidermis, which is of ectodermal origin. It includes a mesodermal connective-tissue layer, or derma, in such invertebrates as nemertines and cephalopod mollusks and in vertebrates, including man. Derivatives of the integument are cutaneous glands, cuticles, the chitinous armor of arthropods, the shells of mollusks, scales, feathers, hair, claws, and nails.