Stratum basale

The nucleus is large, ovoid and occupies most of the cell.

Others serve to anchor the epidermis glabrous skin (hairless), and hyper-proliferative epidermis (from a skin disease).

[1] They divide to form the keratinocytes of the stratum spinosum, which migrate superficially.

[4] In a growing fetus, fingerprints form where the cells of the stratum basale meet the papillae of the underlying papillary layer of the dermis, resulting in the formation of the ridges on the fingers.

Fingerprints are unique to each individual and are used for forensic analyses because the patterns do not change with the growth and aging processes.