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The scales may be ossified or tubercular, as in the case of lizards, or modified elaborately, as in the case of snakes. [1] The scales on the top of lizard and snake heads has also been called pileus, after the Latin word for cap, referring to the fact that these scales sit on the skull like a cap. [2]
Species identification using scales requires a fair degree of knowledge about snakes, their taxonomy, snake-scale nomenclature as well as familiarity with and access to scientific literature. Distinguishing by using scale diagrams whether a snake is venomous or not in the field cannot be done in the case of uncaught specimens.
Water collection has been shown in some rattlesnakes, though the nanostructure of the scales is thought to be more significant than the macrostructure (keel) of the scales. [6] In some viperines, most notably those of the genus Echis, the lateral scales are not only keeled, but the keels have minute serrations. The snakes use this in a warning ...
The skin is tough and leathery, and is shed (sloughed) as the animal grows. Unlike snakes which shed the skin in a single piece, lizards slough their skin in several pieces. The scales may be modified into spines for display or protection, and some species have bone osteoderms underneath the scales. [6] [7]
Keeled scales of a colubrid snake (banded water snake; Nerodia fasciata). In zoology, a scale (Ancient Greek: λεπίς, romanized: lepís; Latin: squāma) is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection.
Squamata (/ s k w æ ˈ m eɪ t ə /, Latin squamatus, 'scaly, having scales') is the largest order of reptiles, comprising lizards and snakes.With over 12,162 species, [3] it is also the second-largest order of extant (living) vertebrates, after the perciform fish.
Their kidneys (metanephros) and large intestines are also well-suited to water retention. Most mammals do not lay eggs, but corresponding structures develop inside the placenta. The ancestors of true amniotes, such as Casineria kiddi, which lived about 340 million years ago, evolved from amphibian reptiliomorphs and resembled small lizards.
A dragonfly in its radical final moult, metamorphosing from an aquatic nymph to a winged adult.. In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is a process by which an animal casts off parts of its body to serve some beneficial purpose, either at specific times of the year, or at specific points in ...