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ventral scales as a key character of snakes
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by nietzsche on April 17, 2010
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I am reading a book, and it mentions that there several things that you need to look at to determine if a legless reptile is in fact a snake. One of them is the presence of ventral scales. Sea snakes do not have ventral scales, but the book makes no allowance for lack of ventrals in snakes. Is this just an old necessary condition, and if so what are the necessary characteristics now? Thanks for any clarification.
Kelly
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RE: ventral scales as a key character of snakes
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by FSB on April 18, 2010
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None of the Scolecophidians [blindsnakes] have ventral scales and yet they are very clearly snakes, so obviously the book is in error. The time-honoured method for distinguishing legless lizards from snakes is the presence of eyelids and external ear openings in the lizards.
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RE: ventral scales as a key character of snakes
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by nietzsche on April 19, 2010
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Crap, I forgot about thread snakes. What about the lack of a pectoral girdle? Is a girdle present in all legless lizards, or only some? Thank you.
Kelly
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RE: ventral scales as a key character of snakes
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by FSB on April 19, 2010
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Kelly, I'm not exactly sure about which or how many legless lizards might still possess pectoral girdles, but that structure is absent in all snakes. Naturally, it's a less-obvious feature than external ears or eyelids, and can only be viewed by dissection. Back in the 1940's two well-known herpetologists had a rather embarrassing moment when they announced that they had discovered a pectoral girdle in a blindsnake, creating something of a sensation at the time. Unfortunately for them, Rosemary Warner later showed that the structure they had uncovered was actually a laryngeal cartilage and not a pectoral girdle.
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RE: ventral scales as a key character of snakes
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by nietzsche on April 20, 2010
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Thank you for the info Fred. I guess it really pays to have someone check your work, especially in the world of research!
Kelly
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