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Sea Turtle Glossary

Please report errors to glossary@seaturtle.org.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z all

 

Scale

Each of the small overlapping plates protecting the skin of fish and reptiles, including turtles. Cheloniids can be distinguished from one another by the number of prefrontal scales (scales on the top of the snout) - as well as by the number of scutes on the carapace.

See also: Cheloniid   Scute   Carapace

WWW References:

• The Anatomy of Sea Turtles
• Species Identification (PDF)

Citations:

• Oxford English Dictionary. and
• Wyneken, J. 2001. The Anatomy of Sea Turtles. U.S. Department of Commerce NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-470, 172 pp.

Entered by: Brendan Godley
Modified by: Janice Blumenthal
Entered: 2004-12-13 16:59:06
Last modified: 2005-05-06 22:01:57