• Question: how many scales does an average crocodile have?

    Asked by lupopippa to Davie, Gemma, James P, James V, Nuala on 26 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Nuala Carson

      Nuala Carson answered on 26 Jun 2012:

      I dont have the foggiest! How many skin cells does the average human have?

    • Photo: James Pope

      James Pope answered on 26 Jun 2012:

      Hi lupopippa,

      I am afrad I don’t know and I’m not sure I’d want to get close enough to count, especially with the teeth and jaws they have!

    • Photo: James Verdon

      James Verdon answered on 26 Jun 2012:

      No idea, but enough to make a nice pair of shoes out of. I know we use leather, which is cow skin, for a lot of things, but I find it quite distasteful that people use things like crocodile skin to make shoes and handbags.

    • Photo: Gemma Purser

      Gemma Purser answered on 27 Jun 2012:

      I tried to research this one for you and I never realised how complicated the skin/scales of a crocodile actually is! What I did find out though is that there is a part on a crocodile on the head where the skin is attatched to the bone. There are small plates of bone under the scales called osteoderms or scutes that actually grow a little bit every year leaving a clear ring or mark. You can count these and work out how old the crocodile is, just like you can for trees and tree rings!! Just thought that fact was cool so I had to share it with you!

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