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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]
Rainbow boas get their name from the coloration of their scales caused by iridescence. The ventral (or belly) scales, which are large and oblong, are especially low-friction, and some arboreal species can use the edges to grip branches. Snake skin and scales help retain moisture in the animal's body. [3]
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.
Snakeskin may either refer to the skin of a live snake, the shed skin of a snake after molting, or to a type of leather that is made from the hide of a dead snake. Snakeskin and scales can have varying patterns and color formations, providing protection via camouflage from predators. [1]
In snakes, the ventral scales or gastrosteges are the enlarged and transversely elongated scales that extend down the underside of the body from the neck to the anal scale. When counting them, the first is the anteriormost ventral scale that contacts the paraventral (lowermost) row of dorsal scales on either side. The anal scale is not counted. [1]
Snakes are elongated, limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (/ s ɜːr ˈ p ɛ n t iː z /). [2] Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their ...
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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.