Mental scale

The mental scale, or mental, in snakes and other scaled reptiles refers to the median plate on the tip of the lower jaw.[1] It is a triangular scale that corresponds to the rostral of the upper jaw.[2] The reference to the term 'mental' comes from the mental nerve which addresses the chin and lower jaw in animals. In snakes, the shape and size of this scale is sometimes one of the characteristics used to differentiate species from one another.

Related scales

See also

References

  1. ↑ Wright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. Comstock Publishing Associates (7th printing, 1985). 1105 pp. ISBN 0-8014-0463-0.
  2. ↑ Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. 2003. True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. ISBN 0-89464-877-2.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/16/2013. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.