Vermilion Border
Definition
The reddened transition zone between the facial skin and the labial mucosa. It is covered by a thin, partly transparent mucosa that allows the underlying vasculature to show as the characteristic red colour, and its surface carries the grooves used in cheiloscopy.
- Location
- Transition zone between facial skin and labial mucosa
- Colour source
- Underlying vasculature shown through thin, partly transparent mucosa
- Forensic feature
- Surface grooves used for lip print (cheiloscopy) comparison
- Also called
- Lip mucosa or the red margin of the lip
Common questions
Why does the vermilion border carry grooves useful for identification?+
Its surface has fine furrows and wrinkles, sometimes called sulci labiorum, believed to be individually distinct in pattern, which is the anatomical basis examiners rely on when lifting and comparing lip prints.
Is lip print individuality as scientifically established as fingerprints?+
No, cheiloscopy's claims of individuality and permanence rest on a much smaller and less rigorously validated body of research than friction ridge identification, so results are generally treated as corroborative rather than conclusive.
Related terms
- Cheiloscopy
- Study of lip prints (Greek cheilos, lip; skopein, to examine). The furrow system on human lips was first described by anthropologist R....
- Concordance Criterion
- The minimum degree of pattern agreement required before an examiner can report a positive identification. For lip prints, no consensus criterion exists,...
- Latent Lip Print
- A lip print deposited without lipstick or coloured product, invisible to the eye and requiring chemical or physical development before comparison. Composed...
- Lip Print Persistence
- The duration over which a deposited lip print remains retrievable from a surface. Affected by surface material, environmental conditions, handling of the...
- Suzuki-Tsuchihashi Classification
- The 1970 system that divides lip groove patterns into five main types (I, I', II, III, IV, V) based on groove direction,...