scute

American  

[skyoot] / skyut /

noun

Zoology.

1. a dermal bony plate, as on an armadillo, or a large horny plate, as on a turtle.

2. a large scale.

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scute British  

/ skjuːt /

noun

1. zoology a horny or chitinous plate that makes up part of the exoskeleton in armadillos, turtles, fishes, etc

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Etymology

Origin of scute

1350–1400 for earlier sense “French coin, écu ( def. ) ”; 1840–50 for current senses; Middle English < Latin scūtum “shield”

Example Sentences

You might notice growth rings on each scute.

From Washington Post • May 16, 2016

On a string of leather around Stokes’s neck hung a scute, one of the bony ridges that line an alligator’s back.

From New York Times • Aug. 20, 2015

Note the substantially reduced scute compliments in the American crocs.

From Scientific American • Feb. 22, 2014

Crocodylus niloticus... you knew this from the dorsal scute pattern, right?

From Scientific American • Mar. 13, 2013

Examination of parasagittal sections of scutes revealed that they were composed of layers, the number of layers varying with the age of the scute.

From Natural History of the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata Agassiz by Legler, John M.