page_title: Snake scale
section_title: Glossary of scales
hierarchical_section_title: Snake scale / Glossary of scales
caption_attribution_description: English: Scales on a snake's head. (Photo 1). Original photo is of Buff-striped Keelback Amphiesma stolata Family Colubridae, Serpentes.
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: Scales on the head.
  Rostral.
  Nasorostral.
  Nasal.
  Prenasal.
  Postnasal.
  Supranasal.
  Fronto-nasal.
  Internasal.
  Brille, spectacle, ocular scale, eyecap.
  Circumorbital.
  Preocular.
  Postocular.
  Supraocular.
  Subocular.
  Loreal.
  Interorbital, Intersupraocular.
  Frontal.
  Prefrontal.
  Parietal.
  Occipital.
  Interoccipital.
  Temporal.
  Labial.
  Supralabial, Upper labial.
  Sublabial, Infralabial, Lower labial.
  Mental or Symphysial.
  Chin shield.
  Anterior chin shield, Anterior genials.
  Posterior chin shield, Posterior genials.
  Intergeneial.
  Gular.
  Scales on the body.
  Dorsal.
  Vertebral.
  Ventral, Gastrostege.
  Scales on the tail.
  Anal.
  Subcaudal, Urostege.
caption: Nomenclature of scales (side view of head)
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