The arrangement of scutes in turtles.

A scute or scutum (Latin scutum, plural: scuta "shield") is a horny, chitinous, or bony external plate or scale, as on the shell of a turtle, the skin of crocodiles, or the feet of some birds. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Scutum ('skjuːtəm in English pl scuta) is the Latin word for " Shield " although it has in modern times come to be specifically Chitin ( C 8 H 13 O 5 N)n (ˈkaɪtən is a long-chain Polymer of a N-acetylglucosamine Turtles are Reptiles of the Order Testudines (all living turtles belong to the Crown group Chelonia) most of A crocodile is any Species belonging to the family Crocodylidae (sometimes classified instead as the Subfamily Crocodylinae) Birds ( class Aves) are bipedal endothermic ( Warm-blooded) Vertebrate animals that lay eggs. They are similar to scales, but unlike the scales of fish, they are derived from the epidermis. In most biological nomenclature a scale ( Greek lepid, Latin squama) is a small rigid plate that grows out of an Animal Epidermis is the outermost layer of the Skin. It forms the waterproof protective wrap over the body's surface and is made up of stratified squamous Epithelium with The term is also used to describe the scales of some armored mammals, such as the armadillo and the extinct glyptodon, and is occasionally used as an alternative to scales in describing snakes or certain fishes, such as sturgeons. Mammals ( class Mammalia) are a class of Vertebrate Animals characterized by the presence of Sweat glands, including sweat glands Armadillos are small Placental Mammals known for having a leathery armor shell Glyptodon (Greek for "grooved or carved tooth" was a large armored Mammal, related to the Armadillo, that lived during the Pleistocene Snakes, like other Reptiles have a skin covered in scales. Snakes are entirely covered with scales or Scutes of various shapes and Sturgeon is the Common name used for some 26 species of fish in the family Acipenseridae, including the genera Acipenser,

The turtle's scutes in the carapace are the nuchal scute, neural or vertebral or central scute, marginal scute, and pygal or supracaudal scute. A carapace is a dorsal section of an Exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups Those in the plastron are the epiplastron, entoplastron, hyoplastron, and hypoplastron. 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

Scutes are also a type of osteoderm. Osteoderms are bony deposits forming scales plates or other structures in the Dermal layers of the Skin.

The term "scutum" is also used in insect anatomy, as an alternative name for the anterior portion of the mesonotum (and, technically, the metanotum, though rarely applied in that context). Insects ( Class Insecta) are a major group of Arthropods and the most diverse group of Animals on the Earth with over a million described The mesothorax is the middle of the three segments in the Thorax of an Insect, and bears the second pair of legs The metathorax is the posterior of the three segments in the Thorax of an Insect, and bears the third pair of legs.

See also

• Osteoderms
• Scale (zoology)
• Snake scales
• Keratin
• Skin