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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]
The enlarged scales on the belly of the snake are usually called ventral scales, although several names are used in the (older) literature, including ventralia, gastrosteges (plural gastrostegi, gastrostegia), scuta subcaudalia [24] or abdominal scales (scutes, plates). [25] Many authors simply abbreviate the ventral scales as "V". [26]
The posterior chin shields are small. The dorsal scales are in 13 rows at midbody. The ventral scales are 127–130 in number, and the anal scale is divided. The subcaudals count is 19–29. [6] This snake is blackish-brown above and below, with the lateral and ventral scales edged with lighter color. [6]
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]
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. In lepidopterans ( butterflies and moths ), scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing , and provide coloration.
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 ...
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.
Other distinctions, as in many snakes, include in males a relatively longer tail to total body length and a wider tail base. Scale arrangement includes 23 dorsal scale rows at midbody (rarely 19 or 21), 211-250 ventral scales, a divided anal scale, and 60-91 paired subcaudal scales (Schultz 1996; Arnold 2002). Ventral scales are sharply angled ...