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Scutes on a crocodile. Reptile skin is covered with scutes or scales which, along with many other characteristics, distinguish reptiles from animals of other classes. They are made of alpha and beta-keratin and are formed from the epidermis (contrary to fish, in which the scales are formed from the dermis).
Most snakes have extra broad scales on the belly, each scale covering the belly from side to side. The scales of all reptiles have an epidermal component (what one sees on the surface), but many reptiles, such as crocodilians and turtles, have osteoderms underlying the epidermal scale.
Vivid scale patterns have been thought to have influenced early art. The use of snake-skin in manufacture of purses, apparel and other articles led to large-scale killing of snakes, giving rise to advocacy for use of artificial snake-skin. Snake scales are also to be found as motifs in fiction, art and films.
Reptiles, including snakes, possess extensive keratinization of the epidermis in the form of epidermal scales. [10] A snake's epidermis is composed of four layers. The outer layer of a snake's skin is shed periodically, and is therefore a temporary layer, and is highly keratinized.
The harder beta-keratins (β-keratins) are found only in the sauropsids, i.e., all living reptiles and birds. They are found in the nails, scales, and claws of reptiles, in some reptile shells , and in the feathers, beaks, and claws of birds. [10] These keratins are formed primarily in beta sheets. However, beta sheets are also found in α ...
A fossil jawbone found by a British girl and her father on a beach in Somerset, England belongs to a gigantic marine reptile dating to 202 million years ago that appears to have been among the ...
A massive jawbone found by a father-daughter fossil-collecting duo on a beach in Somerset along the English coast belonged to a newfound species that’s likely the largest known marine reptile to ...
In snakes, the tail separates between vertebrae and some do not experience regrowth. [16] Third, the scales in lepidosaurs are horny (keratinized) structures of the epidermis, allowing them to be shed collectively, contrary to the scutes seen in other reptiles. [16] This is done in different cycles, depending on the species.