page_title: Philtrum
hierarchical_section_title: Philtrum
caption_attribution_description: English: Philtrum of a dog marked in red circle.
context_page_description: The philtrum, or medial cleft, is a vertical indentation in the middle area of the upper lip, common to many 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.
context_section_description: The philtrum (Latin: philtrum from Ancient Greek φίλτρον phíltron, lit. "love charm"), or medial cleft, is a vertical indentation in the middle area of the upper lip, common to many 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.
caption: Dog philtrum
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