scute anatomy and physiology info

[MyTrek]

I am looking for information on the anatomy and physiology of scutes, more detailed than diagrams naming them. I'm really curious about the different layers, how they grow, what they are made of, the cell types, where the growth plates start, there relationship to other structures like hair or scales, etc...
I've seen references comparing scutes to hair, fingernails and such but really want the detailed info. I have a pretty vast science library and lots of biology textbooks but not much is about turtles/tortoises.
Yes.... I am a geek.

 

[Yvonne G]

Have you read this article:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15880409


Will mentioned a way to do a Google search for scientific papers but I don't remember what he said. Send him a PM and I'll bet he has some words of wisdom for you. His username is - Will

 

[MyTrek]

That is absolutely my kind of article. I'm going to download the full article and see if there are diagrams, that would be perfect. Thank you!

 

[Pond_Lilly]

That is absolutely my kind of article. I'm going to download the full article and see if there are diagrams, that would be perfect. Thank you!

You can do Google Scholar search, lots of articles there, here is a link:
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?as_ylo=2010&q=tortoise+scutes&hl=en&as_sdt=0,10

 

[RonTheTortoise]

I really admire your interest in the scientific aspect of these animals not just the care. As a medical professional myself, I would love to get into studying tortoise anatomy and physiology. Do you have any books or websites you suggest?

 

[N2TORTS]

Ultrastructural and immunohistochemical observations on the process of horny growth in chelonian shells




http://www.scopus.com/record/display.url?eid=2-s2.0-0032791677&origin=inward&txGid=1C75F5EDACCD542B37990227CD26FD79.CnvicAmOODVwpVrjSeqQ:2


http://archive.org/stream/natureofshieldab1029zang/natureofshieldab1029zang_djvu.txt


http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065128106000237