DOI: 10.5061/dryad.x95x69pw5
title: Data from: Nanopores in the ventral scales of Bitis rubida and Bitis armata cause white venters

description: Recent studies speculated that some snakes developed white venters to
 avoid overheating caused by highly radiative soil and rocks. Here, we
 present the scale-embedded porous nanostructures through which some snake
 species of the genus Bitis achieve such whiteness. Our analysis reveals
 nanopores causing scattering underneath the external surface of the white
 ventral scales of Bitis rubida and Bitis armata. Such nanopores are not
 present in the scales of Bitis parviocula, Bitis arietans, and Bitis
 rhinoceros that appear transparent or translucent to the naked eye. White
 ventral scales with nanopores reflect up to 40% of light in the visible
 regime. The reflection, however, decreases for longer wavelengths and
 drastically reduces in the infrared. In contrast, a much lower, almost
 constant reflection around 8% between 250 nm and 2500 nm is observed for
 the transparent or translucent ventral scales without nanopores. Our study
 demonstrates that some snake species of the genus Bitis utilize a light
 scattering network of nanopores underneath their external surfaces to
 create white ventral scales.
description: <strong>Optical Spectroscopy:</strong> The total
 transmittance and reflectance spectra of the ventral scales were
 determined using a Cary 7000 spectrophotometer with an integrating sphere
 (DRS attachment, Agilent, USA). Unpolarized light was used to measure
 spectral properties, shining incoming light beams on the outer surfaces of
 the moulted snake scales close to normal incidence. The measured spectrum
 range was set to 250 to 2500 nm with a spectral resolution of ≈ 1 nm and a
 beam spot diameter about 2 mm. This spectroscopy range covers most of the
 solar spectrum. The NIST calibrated Spectralon® diffuse reflectance
 standard (Labsphere, USA) was used to define a reference
 reflection. <strong>Atomic Force Microscopy:
 </strong>To conduct a topological analysis of the scales’ surface by
 atomic force microscope (AFM, Dimension Icon, Bruker), the scales were cut
 into small pieces. Two-component glue (UHU End-fest, UHU GmbH &
 Co. KG) was used to attach the samples to a glass slide for AFM imaging.
 The prepared samples were carefully cleaned with pressured air. Afterward,
 the samples were imaged in tapping mode utilizing rectangular silicon
 cantilevers (All-in-One-Al, Budget Sensors, Type C) as sensors.
 <strong>Scanning Electron Microscopy:</strong>
 Scanning electron microscopy (SEM, SUPRA 60 VP, Zeiss, Germany) was
 applied for imaging the cross-sections of ventral scales. For that, the
 samples were carefully cut into pieces with a sharp razor blade and
 sputtered with a thin silver layer. The imaging was conducted with an
 acceleration voltage of 5 kV and the detector was placed at a working
 distance of 5 to 7 mm.
description: # Nanopores in the ventral scales of Bitis rubida and Bitis armata cause
 white venters Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.x95x69pw5](10.5061/dryad.x95x69pw5) Data from: Nanopores in
 the ventral scales of Bitis rubida and Bitis armata cause white venters
 Journal: Biology Letters Manuscript: RSBL-2025-0141 Authors: Hölscher,
 Hendrik; Reza, K.M. Samaun; Borgmann, Luisa Maren; Busko, Dmitry1; Chen,
 Junchi; Gunstheimer, Hans; Thelen, Richard; Gomard, Guillaume; Lemmer,
 Ulrich Author affiliations: 1 Karlsruhe Institute of Technology 2 ZEISS
 Innovation Hub @ KIT ## Description of the data and file structure File:
 2025-05-12-DryadDataRezaEtAl.zip The data file contains the optical
 spectroscopy measurements, the AFM surface analysis, and the SEM images of
 the cross sections of the ventral scales of five species of the genus
 Bitis. The optical spectroscoscopy of the ventral scales was conducted
 with a Bruker Cary 7000 and the data files were stored as comma separated
 values (*.csv) in the subdirectories "2025-02-24-Reflectance"
 and "2025-02-25-Transmittance" The AFM images were recorded with
 a Bruker Dimension Icon AFM. We provide the original data files as they
 are saved by the AFM software. The SEM images were saved in TIF format by
 the electron microscope. We provide the original TIF files. The data files
 are organized in the following way ├── Figure-1 │   └──
 SpectroscopyCary7000 │   ├── 2025-02-24-Reflectance │   │   ├──
 2025-02-24-BitisArietans-I-Refl.csv │   │   ├──
 2025-02-24-BitisArmata-II-Ref.csv │   │   ├──
 2025-02-24-BitisArmata-III-Ref.csv │   │   ├──
 2025-02-24-BitisParviocula-II-Refl-b.csv │   │   ├──
 2025-02-24-BitisRhinoceros-II-Refl.csv │   │   └──
 2025-02-24-BitisRubida-II-Refl.csv │   ├── 2025-02-25-Transmittance │  
 │   ├── BitisArietans.csv │   │   ├── BitisArmata.csv │   │   ├──
 BitisParviocula.csv │   │   ├── BitisRhinoceros.csv │   │   └──
 BitisRubidaI.csv │   ├── 2025-03-04-SpectroscopyBitisVentralScales.ipynb
 │   └── 2025-03-04-SpectroscopyBitisVentralScales.pdf ├── Figure-2 │   ├──
 AFM images │   │   ├── 1. Surface topography of the ventral scales of B.
 rubida.spm │   │   ├── 2. Bitis armata ventral.0_00006.spm │   │   ├── 3.
 Bitis parviocula ventral.0_00004.spm │   │   ├── 4. Bitis arietans
 ventral.0_00002.spm │   │   ├── 5. Bitis rhinoceros ventral.0_00003.spm
 │   └── SEM images │   ├── 1a Cross section of ventral Bitis rubida.tif
 │   ├── 1b Cross section of ventral Bitis rubida magnified.tif │   ├── 2.
 Cross section of ventral Bitis armata.tif │   ├── 3. Cross section of
 ventral Bitis parvoicula.tif │   ├── 4a. Cross section of ventral Bitis
 arietans.tif │   ├── 4b. Cross section of ventral Bitis arietans.tif │  
 └── 5. Cross section of ventral Bitis rhinoceros.tif └── README.md ##
 Code/Software The optical spectroscopy data was analysed and plotted using
 Python utilizing a simple Jupyter Script which is provided in the
 respective directory (Figure1/SpectroscopyCary7000) as
 2025-03-04-SpectroscopyBitisVentralScales.ipynb