Abstract
Abstract The study was focused on the morphological features of the hair follicle and hair shaft of coarse-haired sheep. The results allow for explaining the paradoxical phenomenon of combining strong hair fastening in the skin with its continuous advancement towards the skin surface during hair growth. It has been shown that tooth-like structures of the hair cuticle’s surface and complementary indentations of the surface of the inner root sheath are formed in the suprabulbar region of the hair follicle. These surfaces detach from each other only closer to the skin surface, in the region under the isthmus. The variability of some hair features (hair diameter and the ratio of the thickness of its layers) on a standard area of the skin as well as the influence of external conditions on the formation of the structure of an individual hair were studied. Possible mechanisms for regulating the temporal and spatial variability of the hair structure are discussed.