In this video, we're going to begin our lesson on the dermis. Recall from our previous lesson videos that the cutaneous membrane, or the skin, is actually made up of two layers. The first layer is the epidermis, which we already covered in our previous lesson videos, and the second layer is actually the dermis. The dermis can be defined as the second layer of the skin that lies deep to the epidermis and is underneath the epidermis.
The dermis itself actually consists of these two different layers. The first layer of the dermis is the papillary layer, and the second layer of the dermis is the reticular layer. Notice over here on the right, we have a diagram of the integumentary system, and notice that in pink, we have highlighted the dermis. Notice that the dermis has these two layers. The first layer is the papillary layer, which is more superficial and relatively thin.
Then the other layer of the dermis is the reticular layer, which is much thicker and makes up the vast majority of the dermis. Moving forward in our course, we're going to talk about each of these dermal layers in their own separate videos, starting with the papillary layer. I'll see you all in our next video.