The various distributions of snake scales on the head, back and abdomen are one of the main features that classify snakes. In the West, each type of scale distributed on various parts of the snakes body has its own dedicated name. For some more evolved snakes, the number of scales on their abdomen corresponds to the number of vertebrae, allowing scientists to determine the number of vertebrae in these snakes without dissection.
Points for snakes Scales can also identify the sex of a snake. In one experiment, a scholar put a probe into the cloaca of a female snake and recorded the position of the cloaca between movement and rest. Experiments have shown that there is a difference in the number of scales on the cloaca of female snakes and the hemipenis of male snakes (the hemipenis of male snakes is longer), so counting scales can indeed determine the gender of snakes.
