Gradual micro-ornamentation shifts on a single scale: A case of fossorial snake Xerotyphlops vermicularis
Makaleler > Tam Makale · 2025
Yazarlar: Melodi YENMİŞ
Biological Diversity and Conservation, Diğer Kurumların Hakemli Dergileri, Uluslararası, TR Dizin (Ulakbim), 2025, cilt 18, ss 436-444
DOI: 10.46309/biodicon.2025.1757640
Özet
The outermost surface of multilayered reptile epidermis is called oberhautchen. This hard layer has sub-cellular structures, often called micro-ornamentations. These microstructures have a wide, species-specific variety. This differentiating morphology leads the researchers to think that they might be correlated with either taxonomic state of the species or its ecological role. Even though many research has been conducted, up to date, the debate of whether micro-ornamentations are related to phylogeny or ecology has not resulted. Detailed scale micro-ornamentation research was lacking on Xerotyphlops vermicularis, and since the micro-ornamentations were found to be species-specific and even varying within a singular scale of the same specimen, we aimed to fulfil the lack with the present study. We examined dorsal skin samples with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for surficial morphology and with light microscopy for the multilayered epidermis. We found that different types of micro-ornamentations are present in different regions on a single scale surface, changing gradually; triangular cells with smooth edges and surfaces change into denticulated edges with pits on the cell surface. It is clear that similar, detailed morphological studies need to be conducted in many different species to reveal the true nature of the correlation between micro-ornamentations and ecology/taxonomy.