Snake sheds are an important field discovery in biological research on species distribution, but often only a portion of the shed is found, making it impossible to differentiate between species using existing identification keys, which primarily rely on the scaling pattern of the head. Snake sheds exhibit scaling across the entire body, making them a suitable material for studying the morphological characteristics of scales. In our research, we attempted to determine how the morphology of scales on the body and tail differs among the 11 species of native snakes in Slovenia and among individuals of different ages. We collected up to 10 sheds of each species of various lengths. Most of the sheds were found in Slovenia, some were from neighbouring countries, and a few were obtained from terrarium specimens. Using a Keyence VHX-7000 digital microscope, we described the type of scales (keeled or smooth), the shape of the apical edge of the scale (with an indentation or without) and the number of apical pits, measured the length, width, and calculated their ratio at five body regions on the dorsal and lateral sides at 20x magnification. Under 1000x magnification, we examined microstructures on the basal, middle, and apical parts of dorsal, lateral, and ventral scales at five body regions and described round protrusions in the space between scales at two locations along the body. We found inter-species differences in the morphological characteristics of scales, as well as intra-species differences along the body and between juvenile and adult individuals. To distinguish between species, it is necessary to consider multiple characters simultaneously, as some are not entirely reliable.
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