BTW - I wonder one other thing about the proposed link between humidity and pyramiding. If dryness causes scutes and underlying bone to warp, why doesn't it do the same in comparable tissues in other animals?
Many animals (including turtles) have claws, hooves, or fingernails, which also consist of a keratin sheath overlaying bone. And what about the horns of bovids or rhinos? Why don't they get warped under dry conditions? The beaks of birds and turtles are also made up of keratin that lies atop bone. Yet, the only time they are misshapen is when they have either not been worn down through normal use, or else the animal has MBD that warps the jawbone itself. Dryness does not appear to affect the growth of the beak.
The shape of the keratin may have something to do with pyramiding, since scutes are flatter than structures like claws or horns, which are conical. However, our fingernails are flat, too, and although they can became misshapen from a variety of factors (including dryness), the effects are small compared to pyramiding and apparently limited to the nail, and do not include the phalanx bone.
Again, whatever role dryness plays in pyramiding, I suspect it is not acting alone, because diet and metabolism are probably just as important, if not more so.
Many animals (including turtles) have claws, hooves, or fingernails, which also consist of a keratin sheath overlaying bone. And what about the horns of bovids or rhinos? Why don't they get warped under dry conditions? The beaks of birds and turtles are also made up of keratin that lies atop bone. Yet, the only time they are misshapen is when they have either not been worn down through normal use, or else the animal has MBD that warps the jawbone itself. Dryness does not appear to affect the growth of the beak.
The shape of the keratin may have something to do with pyramiding, since scutes are flatter than structures like claws or horns, which are conical. However, our fingernails are flat, too, and although they can became misshapen from a variety of factors (including dryness), the effects are small compared to pyramiding and apparently limited to the nail, and do not include the phalanx bone.
Again, whatever role dryness plays in pyramiding, I suspect it is not acting alone, because diet and metabolism are probably just as important, if not more so.