page_title: Snake scale
section_title: Head scales
hierarchical_section_title: Snake scale / Nomenclature of scales / Head scales
caption_attribution_description: Banded Krait Bungarus fasciatus Daudin 1803 Photo of Banded Krait captured in Binnaguri, North Bengal, India on 19 Sep 2006. Note the following&#160;:- The triangular cross-section of the body. Black and yellow alternating bands. The enlarged vertebrals on the top edge of the body. The space between the scales is clearly visible and prominent in this species. Self-work. AshLin 20:30, 19 September 2006 (UTC)
context_page_description: Snakes, like other reptiles, have skin covered in scales. Snakes are entirely covered with scales or scutes of various shapes and sizes, known as snakeskin as a whole. A scale protects the body of the snake, aids it in locomotion, allows moisture to be retained within, alters the surface characteristics such as roughness to aid in camouflage, and in some cases even aids in prey capture. The simple or complex colouration patterns are a property of the underlying skin, but the folded nature of scaled skin allows bright skin to be concealed between scales then revealed in order to startle predators.
  Scales have been modified over time to serve other functions such as 'eyelash' fringes, and protective covers for the eyes with the most distinctive modification being the rattle of the North American rattlesnakes.
  Snakes periodically moult their scaly skins and acquire new ones. This permits replacement of old worn out skin, disposal of parasites and is thought to allow the snake to grow. The arrangement of scales is used to identify snake species.
  Snakes have been part and parcel of culture and religion. Vivid scale patterns have been thought to have influenced early art.
context_section_description: Identification of cephalic scales is most conveniently begun with reference to the nostril, which is easily identified on a snake. There are two scales enclosing the nostril which are called the nasals. In colubrids, the nostril lies between the nasals, while in vipers it lies in the centre of a single nasal scale. The outer nasal (near the snout) is called the prenasal while the inner nasal (near the eye) is called the postnasal. Along the top of the snout connecting the nasals on both sides of the head are scales called internasals. Between the two prenasals is a scale at the tip of the snout called the rostral scale.
  The scales around the eye are called circumorbital scales and are named as ocular scales but with appropriate prefixes. The ocular scale proper is a transparent scale covering the eye which is called the spectacle, brille or eyecap. The circumorbital scales towards the snout or the front are called preocular scales, those towards the rear are called postocular scales, and those towards the upper or dorsal side are called supraocular scales. Circumorbital scales towards the ventral or lower side, if any, are called subocular scales. Between the preocular and the postnasal scales are one or two scales called loreal scales. Loreal scales are absent in elapids.
  The scales along the lips of the snake are called labials. Those on the upper lip are called supralabials or upper labials, while those on the lower lip are called infralabials or lower labials. On top of the head, between the eyes, adjacent to the supraoculars is the frontal scale. The prefrontal scales are the scales connected to the frontal towards the tip of the snout which are in contact with the internasals. They may have a scale in between them. The back of the top of the head has scales connected to the frontal scale called the parietal scales. At the sides of the back of the head between the parietals above and the supralabials below are scales called temporal scales.
  On the underside of the head, a snake has an anterior scale called the mental scale.  Connected to the mental scale and all along the lower lips are the infralabials or lower labials. Along the chin connected to the infralabials is a pair of shields called the anterior chin shields. Next to the anterior chin shields, further back along the chin is another pair of shields called the posterior chin shields. In some texts the chinshields are referred to as submaxillary scales.
  Scales in the central or throat region, which are in contact with the first ventral scales of a snake's body and are flanked by the chin shields, are called gular scales. The mental groove is a longitudinal groove on the underside of the head between the large, paired chin shields and continuing between the smaller gular scales.
caption: Enlarged vertebral scales of Banded Krait Bungarus fasciatus
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