This scaly skin is shed periodically as it becomes worn or is outgrown. The scales are very diversified. Scales are used to help snakes move, feel vibrations, protect eyes and skin, and even make noise. We all know about rattlers. Let's go inside the snake's body to look at more adaptations.
Snakes lack shoulder and hip bones, and the rear bones of the skull.
What they do have are lots of vertebrae and ribs. In fact, vipers and burrowing snakes have around 180 vertebrae, while boas and colubrids, like king snakes, have over 435. The ribs are attached only to the vertebrae because snakes do not have a sternum. The snake's internal organs have adapted to its slinky body structure. The heart is unusually slender and not fully compartmentalized into chambers like ours.