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Crocodile Scales Form in a Surprising Way That Has Nothing to Do With Genetics
From Smooth Skin to a Mosaic of Scales At first, the embryonic crocodile’s head is covered in smooth skin. But as the embryo grows, the skin begins to fold inward. These folds spread and ...
The Scientist1mon
Mechanics, Not Genetics, Determine Crocodile Head Scale Patterns
The scales on a crocodile’s body develop through this mechanism. About a decade ago, Milinkovitch noticed that the scales on the reptile’s jaws and face differ from those on its body. He speculated ...
WKAR1mon
How crocodiles get their scale patterns (Hint: It's unlike other animals)
LAMBERT: Feathers, hair and scale on other animals all get built ... To figure out whether crocodile heads are more like mud or more like brains, Milinkovitch injected a drug that speeds up ...
WESA1mon
How crocodiles get their scale patterns (Hint: It's unlike other animals)
LAMBERT: He was surprised because features like scales, feathers and hair form ... sped up the growth rate of the top layer of crocodile skin in developing embryos. MILINKOVITCH: When we do ...