Formation of New Wool Follicles in the Adult Sheep

Abstract

IT has generally been held that the formation of new hair follicles from the epidermis does not occur after the adult complement has been established. Evidence to the contrary was published by Ribbert¹ as early as 1904, and more recent work in this field has confirmed that new hair follicles can in fact develop from adult epidermis^2–5. This phenomenon has not, to our knowledge, been reported in the sheep and the present observations, describing the formation of new wool follicles in adult animals, were made by chance during the examination of unsuccessful homografts.