page_title: Scutoid
section_title: Appearance in nature
hierarchical_section_title: Scutoid / Appearance in nature
caption_attribution_description: English: Protaetia cuprea ignicollis, Yashresh, Israel עברית: נחושתית הקוצים / נחושתנית הקוצים, ישרש, ישראל
context_page_description: A scutoid is a geometric solid between two parallel surfaces. The boundary of each of the surfaces is a polygon, and the vertices of the two end polygons are joined by either a curve or a Y-shaped connection on at least one of the edges, but not necessarily all of the edges. Scutoids present at least one vertex between these two planes. Scutoids are not necessarily convex, and lateral faces are not necessarily planar, so several scutoids can pack together to fill all the space between the two parallel surfaces. They may be more generally described as a mix between a frustum and a prismatoid.
context_section_description: The shape, however odd, is a building block of multicellular organisms; complex life might never have emerged on Earth without it.
  — Alan Burdick, We Are All Scutoids: A Brand New Shape, Explained
  Epithelial cells adopt the "scutoidal shape" under certain circumstances. In epithelia, cells can 3D-pack as scutoids, facilitating tissue curvature. This is fundamental to the shaping of the organs during development.
  "Scutoid is a prismatoid to which one extra mid-level vertex has been added. This extra vertex forces some of the "faces" of the resulting object to curve. This means that Scutoids are not polyhedra, because not all of their faces are planar. ... For the computational biologists who created/discovered the Scutoid, the key property of the shape is that it can combine with itself and other geometric objects like frustums to create 3D packings of epithelial cells."
   - Laura Taalman
caption: A beetle with a scutellum, for which the shape was officially named.
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