Iowa Public Radio

How crocodiles get their scale patterns (Hint: It's unlike other animals)

We pursue one of the mysteries of the incredible variety of animals that you find in nature. NPR's Jonathan Lambert reports on a study in the journal Nature. JONATHAN LAMBERT, BYLINE: Biologist Michel ...
Ars Technica

A simple mathematical model can account for lizard’s green-and-black pattern

Zebras and tigers have stripes, cheetahs and leopards have spots, and the ocellated lizard (Timon lepidus) boasts a labyrinthine pattern of black-and-green chains of scales. Now researchers from the ...
The Scientist

Mechanics, Not Genetics, Determine Crocodile Head Scale Patterns

Now, in a new study, Milinkovitch and his team reported that the polygonal head scales form due to the growth and compression of skin, which creates a self-organizing pattern of folds. 2 These ...
NPR

How crocodiles get their scale patterns (Hint: It's unlike other animals)

Many animals get their external marking—like, feathers, hair or scales-from genetics. But it turns out, the crocodile gets its head patterns differently. Scientists normally explain the spectacular ...
NPR

How crocodiles get their scale patterns (Hint: It's unlike other animals)

Many animals get their external marking — such as, feathers, hair or scales-from genetics. But it turns out, the crocodile gets its head patterns differently. (Story aired on ATC on Dec. 11, 202.) We ...