| Title |
Darwin’s Tubercle: Review of a Unique Congenital Anomaly
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Dermatology and Therapy, April 2016
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s13555-016-0109-6 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Tiffany Y. Loh, Philip R. Cohen |
| Abstract |
"Darwin's tubercle" is a term used to describe an atavistic swelling of the posterior helix that is present in some individuals. Little is known about its prevalence, characteristics, and function. With growing interest in the individuality of external ear patterns and its possible applications to personal identification, more knowledge about this tubercle is warranted. We review the history, clinical presentation, and modern-day influences of Darwin's tubercle. A comprehensive review of the literature was performed. Pubmed was searched with the key words: auricle, congenital, Darwin, ear, evolution, helix, pinna, tubercle, Woolnerian. Darwin's tubercle has been documented to be present in about 10.5% of the Spanish adult population, 40% of Indian adults, and 58% of Swedish school children. It has a variety of clinical presentations, which may be classified by its degree of protuberance. The influence of genetics on the expression of Darwin's tubercle is unclear, and there are conflicting observations about its correlations with age and gender. Although usually present bilaterally in individuals who do possess this trait, a portion of this population does display asymmetric expression. Darwin's tubercle is a benign and unique helical feature. It contributes to the individuality of human ears and may have applications toward personal identification in the future. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 6 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 1 | 17% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 17% |
| Australia | 1 | 17% |
| Unknown | 3 | 50% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 4 | 67% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 17% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 17% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 24 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 24 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 9 | 38% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 2 | 8% |
| Researcher | 2 | 8% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 1 | 4% |
| Student > Master | 1 | 4% |
| Other | 1 | 4% |
| Unknown | 8 | 33% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine and Dentistry | 5 | 21% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 3 | 13% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 2 | 8% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 1 | 4% |
| Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 1 | 4% |
| Other | 4 | 17% |
| Unknown | 8 | 33% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 40. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 29 December 2023.
All research outputs
#968,412
of 24,404,997 outputs
Outputs from Dermatology and Therapy
#35
of 873 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#17,389
of 305,709 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Dermatology and Therapy
#3
of 15 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,404,997 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 96th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 873 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 11.4. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 305,709 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 15 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 86% of its contemporaries.