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Dermal scutes are also found in the feet of birds and tails of some mammals, and are believed to be the primitive form of dermal armour in reptiles. The term is also used to describe the heavy armour of the armadillo and the extinct Glyptodon , and is occasionally used as an alternative to scales in describing snakes or certain fishes, such as ...
Overlying the boney elements are a series of scutes, which are made of keratin and are a lot like horn or nail tissue. In the center of the carapace are five vertebral scutes and out from these are four pairs of costal scutes. Around the edge of the shell are 12 pairs of marginal scutes.
Typically, 11 or 12 pairs of marginal scutes rim the carapace. [8] Five vertebral scutes run down the carapace's midline, while five pairs of costal scutes border them. [21] The nuchal scute is located at the base of the head. [21] The carapace connects to the plastron by three pairs of inframarginal scutes forming the bridge of the shell. [21]
Squamata and Rhynchocephalia form the subclass Lepidosauria, which is the sister group to the Archosauria, the clade that contains crocodiles and birds, and their extinct relatives. Fossils of rhynchocephalians first appear in the Early Triassic , meaning that the lineage leading to squamates must have also existed at the time.
The articulations with neighboring scutes are located on the ventral side, and the dorsal surface is strongly sculptured while the ventral surface of wings is smooth and contains many small openings. "The scutes have very wide wings and cover practically the whole upper part of the trunk. The tail scutes are narrower, the last of which lack wings.
The spiny softshell turtle (Apalone spinifera) is a species of softshell turtle, one of the largest freshwater turtle species in North America.Both the common name, spiny softshell, and the specific name, spinifera (spine-bearing), refer to the spiny, cone-like projections on the leading edge of the carapace, which are not scutes (scales).
This species can be recognized by its black or brown oval carapace (upper shell) with distinctive low keels on the second and third scutes. Yellow spots on the side of its head give this species its common name. These spots are most prominent in juveniles and fade with age. Females can be up to twice the size of males.
A healthy female bog turtle can lay between 30 and 45 eggs in her lifetime, but many of the offspring do not survive to reach sexual maturity. [53] Typically, older females lay more eggs than younger ones. [51] The eggs are white, elliptical, and on average 3.4 centimeters (1.3 in) long and 1.5 centimeters (0.59 in) wide. [54]