<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> <P> Animalia with the exception of Porifera, Cnidaria, Ctenophora, Platyhelminthes, Bryozoan, Amphioxus . </P> † Trials with calves using pulseless artificial hearts showed no adverse effects . </Td> </Tr> <P> Animalia with the exception of Porifera, Cnidaria, Ctenophora, Platyhelminthes, Bryozoan, Amphioxus . </P> <P> In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the heartbeat by trained fingertips . The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the neck (carotid artery), wrist (radial artery), at the groin (femoral artery), behind the knee (popliteal artery), near the ankle joint (posterior tibial artery), and on foot (dorsalis pedis artery). Pulse (or the count of arterial pulse per minute) is equivalent to measuring the heart rate . The heart rate can also be measured by listening to the heart beat by auscultation, traditionally using a stethoscope and counting it for a minute . The radial pulse is commonly measured using three fingers . This has a reason: the finger closest to the heart is used to occlude the pulse pressure, the middle finger is used get a crude estimate of the blood pressure, and the finger most distal to the heart (usually the ring finger) is used to nullify the effect of the ulnar pulse as the two arteries are connected via the palmar arches (superficial and deep). The study of the pulse is known as sphygmology . </P> <P> Claudius Galen was perhaps the first physiologist to describe the pulse . The pulse is an expedient tactile method of determination of systolic blood pressure to a trained observer . Diastolic blood pressure is non-palpable and unobservable by tactile methods, occurring between heartbeats . </P>

The two anatomical sites for checking heart rate are the carotid artery and posterior wrist
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