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A scute or scutum (Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 scutum, plural: scuta "shield
Scutum (shield)

Scutum is the Latin word for "shield", although it has in modern times come to be specifically associated with the rectangular, semi-cylinder body shield carried by Roman legion....
") is a chitin
Chitin

Chitin n is a long-chain polymer of a N-acetylglucosamine, a derivative of glucose, and is found in many places throughout the natural world....
ous, or bony external plate or scale, as on the shell of a turtle
Turtle

Turtles are reptiles of the Order Testudines , most of whose body is shielded by a special bone or cartilage animal shell developed from their ribs....
, the skin of crocodile
Crocodile

A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all members of the order Crocodilia: i.e....
s, or the feet of some bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s. They are similar to scales
Scale (zoology)

In most biology nomenclature, a scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection. In lepidopteran species, scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, and provide coloration....
, but unlike the scales of fish, they are derived from the epidermis
Epidermis (skin)

The epidermis is the outermost layer of the skin, composed of terminally differentiated stratified squamous epithelium, acting as the body's major barrier against an inhospitable environment....
. The term is also used to describe the scales of some armored mammal
Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
s, such as the armadillo
Armadillo

Armadillos are small placental mammals, known for having a leathery Armour shell. The Dasypodidae are the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths....
 and the extinct glyptodon
Glyptodon

Glyptodon was a large, armored mammal, related to the armadillo, that lived during the Pleistocene epoch . Flatter than a Volkswagen Beetle, but about the same general size and weight, Glyptodon is believed to have been an herbivore, grazing on grasses and other plants found near rivers and small bodies of water....
, and is occasionally used as an alternative to scales in describing snakes
Snake scales

Snakes, like other reptiles, have a skin covered in Scale s. Snakes are entirely covered with scales or scutes of various shapes and sizes....
 or certain fishes, such as sturgeon
Sturgeon

Sturgeon is the common name used for some 26 species of fish in the family Acipenseridae, including the genus Acipenser, Huso, Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus....
s.

The turtle's scutes in the carapace
Carapace

A carapace is a Dorsum section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods such as crustaceans and arachnids as well as vertebrates such as chelonians, order Testudines, turtles and tortoises....
 are the nuchal scute, neural or vertebral or central scute, marginal scute, and pygal or supracaudal scute.






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A scute or scutum (Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 scutum, plural: scuta "shield
Scutum (shield)

Scutum is the Latin word for "shield", although it has in modern times come to be specifically associated with the rectangular, semi-cylinder body shield carried by Roman legion....
") is a chitin
Chitin

Chitin n is a long-chain polymer of a N-acetylglucosamine, a derivative of glucose, and is found in many places throughout the natural world....
ous, or bony external plate or scale, as on the shell of a turtle
Turtle

Turtles are reptiles of the Order Testudines , most of whose body is shielded by a special bone or cartilage animal shell developed from their ribs....
, the skin of crocodile
Crocodile

A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all members of the order Crocodilia: i.e....
s, or the feet of some bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s. They are similar to scales
Scale (zoology)

In most biology nomenclature, a scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection. In lepidopteran species, scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, and provide coloration....
, but unlike the scales of fish, they are derived from the epidermis
Epidermis (skin)

The epidermis is the outermost layer of the skin, composed of terminally differentiated stratified squamous epithelium, acting as the body's major barrier against an inhospitable environment....
. The term is also used to describe the scales of some armored mammal
Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
s, such as the armadillo
Armadillo

Armadillos are small placental mammals, known for having a leathery Armour shell. The Dasypodidae are the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths....
 and the extinct glyptodon
Glyptodon

Glyptodon was a large, armored mammal, related to the armadillo, that lived during the Pleistocene epoch . Flatter than a Volkswagen Beetle, but about the same general size and weight, Glyptodon is believed to have been an herbivore, grazing on grasses and other plants found near rivers and small bodies of water....
, and is occasionally used as an alternative to scales in describing snakes
Snake scales

Snakes, like other reptiles, have a skin covered in Scale s. Snakes are entirely covered with scales or scutes of various shapes and sizes....
 or certain fishes, such as sturgeon
Sturgeon

Sturgeon is the common name used for some 26 species of fish in the family Acipenseridae, including the genus Acipenser, Huso, Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus....
s.

The turtle's scutes in the carapace
Carapace

A carapace is a Dorsum section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods such as crustaceans and arachnids as well as vertebrates such as chelonians, order Testudines, turtles and tortoises....
 are the nuchal scute, neural or vertebral or central scute, marginal scute, and pygal or supracaudal scute. Those in the plastron
Plastron

The plastron is the nearly flat part of the shell structure of a turtle or tortoise, what one would call the belly, similar in composition to the carapace; with an external layer of horny material divided into plates called scutes and an underlying layer of interlocking bones....
 are the epiplastron, entoplastron, hyoplastron, and hypoplastron.

Scutes are also a type of osteoderm.

The term "scutum" is also used in insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
 anatomy, as an alternative name for the anterior portion of the mesonotum (and, technically, the metanotum, though rarely applied in that context).

See also

  • Osteoderms
  • Scale (zoology)
    Scale (zoology)

    In most biology nomenclature, a scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection. In lepidopteran species, scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, and provide coloration....
  • Snake scales
    Snake scales

    Snakes, like other reptiles, have a skin covered in Scale s. Snakes are entirely covered with scales or scutes of various shapes and sizes....
  • Keratin
    Keratin

    Keratins are a family of fibrous protein; tough and insoluble, they form the hard but mineral structures found in reptiles, birds, amphibians and mammals....
  • Skin
    Skin

    The skin is the outer covering of the body, also known as the epidermis. It is the largest organ of the integumentary system made up of multiple layers of epithelial biological tissue, and guards the underlying muscles, bones, ligaments and organ s....
  • Skeleton
    Skeleton

    In biology, a skeleton is a rigid framework that provides protection and structure in many types of animal, particularly those of the phylum Chordata and of the superphylum Ecdysozoa....