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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]
Scales in the central or throat region, which are in contact with the first ventral scales of a snake's body and are flanked by the chin shields, are called gular scales. The mental groove is a longitudinal groove on the underside of the head between the large, paired chin shields and continuing between the smaller gular scales.
While reptile scales use a sophisticated naming system (see figures), there has been a certain confusion because of synonymous names. For instance, the ventral scales are often called ventrals but gastrosteges is common in the older literature. In more recent publications they are often abbreviated as VSR (for ventral scale rows) or simply V. [4]
Most snakes use specialized belly scales to travel, allowing them to grip surfaces. The body scales may be smooth, keeled, or granular. The eyelids of a snake are transparent "spectacle" scales, also known as brille, which remain permanently closed. [citation needed] For a snake, the skin has been modified to its specialized form of locomotion.
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.
Ventral scales; Vertebral scales This page was last edited on 15 August 2015, at 01:11 (UTC). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution ...
This internasal pair is either present or absent in species of Vermicella; (2) Number of black bands on the body and tail combined; (3) Number of ventral scales. The ventral scales are elongated, horizontal scales that occur on the belly of the snake up until the anal plate. After the anal plate, the scales are subcaudal scales. [3]
The variation of scale colors as caused by different chromatophores, located on the dorsal (top) surface of a Garter snake. Coloration of snakes is largely due to pigment cells and their distribution. Some scales have lightly colored centers, which arise from regions with a reduced cuticle.