question: Are the scales of a reptile electrically conductive?
comment: Not really, however it depends on the species there's not that much water in many species because the scales are made of keratin (just like your nails/hair) which is not really conductive.
passages: Section::::Examples.:Dolphins.
  
  Dolphins have evolved electroreception in structures different from those of fish, amphibians and monotremes. The hairless vibrissal crypts on the rostrum of the Guiana dolphin ("Sotalia guianensis"), originally associated with mammalian whiskers, are capable of electroreception as low as 4.8 μV/cm, sufficient to detect small fish. This is comparable to the sensitivity of electroreceptors in the platypus. To date (June 2013), these cells have been described from only a single dolphin specimen.
  
  Section::::Examples.:Bees.
   The emitter wire is typically connected to the positive terminal of the high voltage power supply. In general, it is made from a small gauge bare conductive wire. While copper wire can be used, it does not work quite as well as stainless steel. Similarly, thinner wire such as 44 or 50 gauge tends to work well compared to more common, larger sizes such as 30 gauge, as the stronger electric field around the smaller diameter wire results in better ionisation and a larger corona current.
   On the other hand, the musky rat-kangaroo, has scales on its feet and tail. The precise nature of its purported scales has not been studied in detail, but they appear to be structurally different from pangolin scales.
  
  Anomalures also have scales on their tail undersides.
  
  Foot pad epidermal tissues in most mammal species have been compared to the scales of other vertebrates. They are likely derived from cornification processes or stunted fur much like avian reticulae are derived from stunted feathers.
  
  Section::::Arthropod scales.
   No examples of an entire "lorica squamata" have been found, but there have been several archaeological finds of fragments of such shirts and individual scales are quite common finds—even in non-military contexts.
   Both "resistance" and "resistivity" describe how difficult it is to make electrical current flow through a material, but unlike resistance, resistivity is an "intrinsic property". This means that all pure copper wires (which have not been subjected to distortion of their crystalline structure etc.), irrespective of their shape and size, have the same "resistivity", but a long, thin copper wire has a much larger "resistance" than a thick, short copper wire. Every material has its own characteristic resistivity. For example, rubber has a far larger resistivity than copper.
   Section::::Placoid scales.:Shark skin.:Scale morphology.
   Fish scales are dermally derived, specifically in the mesoderm. This fact distinguishes them from reptile scales paleontologically.
  
  Genetically, the same genes involved in tooth and hair development in mammals are also involved in scale development.
  
  Section::::Fish scales.:Cosmoid scales.
   Snake scales occur as a motif regularly in computer action games. A snake scale was portrayed as a clue in the 1982 film "Blade Runner". Snake scales also figure in popular fiction, such as the Harry Potter series (desiccated Boomslang skin is used as a raw material for concocting the Polyjuice potion), and also in teen fiction.
  
  Section::::See also.
  
  BULLET::::- Anatomical terms of location
  
  BULLET::::- Canthus (snake)
  
  BULLET::::- Fish scale
  
  BULLET::::- Keratin
  
  BULLET::::- Moult
  
  BULLET::::- Reptile scale
  
  BULLET::::- Snake
  
  BULLET::::- Scale (zoology)
  
  Section::::Bibliography.
   "Hesperornis" is shown as being covered in scales when in real life, "Hesperornis" was likely covered in feathers. Also they were not able to stand upright or walk as the legs attached far at the back and sideways, with even the lower leg being tightly attached to the body. Thus, they were limited to sliding on their belly or galumphing.
  
  Section::::H.:"Hyaenodon".
   Section::::Protective motor reactions.:Electrical stimulation.
  
  The sea-slug, "Tritonia diomedia", possesses a group of sensory cells, "S-cells", situated in the pleural ganglia, which initiate escape swimming if stimulated by electric shock. Similarly, the mantis shrimp "Squilla mantis" shows avoidance of electric shocks with a strong tail-flick escape response. Both these responses appear to be rather fixed and reflexive, however, other studies indicate a range of invertebrates exhibit considerably more plastic responses to electric shocks.
   As discussed above, electrons are the primary mover in metals; however, other devices such as the cationic electrolyte(s) of a battery, or the mobile protons of the proton conductor of a fuel cell rely on positive charge carriers. Insulators are non-conducting materials with few mobile charges that support only insignificant electric currents.
  
  Section::::Resistance and conductance.
   Sarcopterygians have modified cosmoid scales, which are thinner than true cosmoid scales, which can only be found on extinct fish. Coelacanths also have a special electroreceptive device called a rostral organ in the front of the skull, which probably helps in prey detection.
   While pure water is not an electrical conductor, even a small portion of ionic impurities, such as salt, can rapidly transform it into a conductor.
  
  Section::::Wire size.
  
  Wires are measured by their cross sectional area. In many countries, the size is expressed in square millimetres. In North America, conductors are measured by American wire gauge for smaller ones, and circular mils for larger ones. The size of a wire contributes to
  
  Section::::Conductor ampacity.
   Electroreception
  
  Electroreception or electroception is the biological ability to perceive natural electrical stimuli. It has been observed almost exclusively in aquatic or amphibious animals, because water is a much better conductor than air. The known exceptions are the monotremes
  
  (echidnas and platypuses), cockroaches and bees. Electroreception is used in electrolocation (detecting objects) and for electrocommunication.
  
  Section::::Overview.
   Section::::Placoid scales.:Shark skin.:Drag reduction.
   A number of high voltage dry piles were invented between the early 19th century and the 1830s in an attempt to determine the answer to this question, and specifically to support Volta’s hypothesis of contact tension. The Oxford Electric Bell is one example. Francis Ronalds in 1814 was one of the first to realise that dry piles also worked through chemical reaction rather than metal to metal contact, even though corrosion was not visible due to the very small currents generated.
  
  Section::::Triboelectric contact.
   Tensile strength measures the force required to pull an object such as rope, wire, or a structural beam to the point where it breaks. The tensile strength of a material is the maximum amount of tensile stress it can take before breaking.
   Another type of electric field detected in electroreception is DC field potentials. All aquatic animals show DC fields, and it is the strongest in the head and gill region in species of fish. Teleosts had a range of about 500 µV potential around the gills, while elasmobrachs and crustaceans were 10 times weaker; but if a crustacean was wounded, its DC potential increased to 1 µV. A study by Peters and Bretschneider measured the bioelectric potential across catfish and found the strongest negative potential around the head and gills of the fish, measured 1 mm from the skin. Yet the sources of DC potentials are still not well understood, for potentials still persist even if the animal is anesthetized, so muscle contractions do not modulate DC potentials. Respiratory movements can module DC potentials, but are not caused by the contraction of muscles, since passive moments of the gill covers cause similar modulation in anesthetized or awake animals and muscle contractions produce high frequency signals. When a fish is hurt or distressed, it also emits a stronger DC field potential, which makes it more susceptible to predation.
   Apternotids, a member of the wave-type gymnotiforms, is different from all other electric fishes as being the only family possessing neurogenic electrocytes. Electric organ of Apternotids is derived from neurons; more specifically, they are formed from the axons of spinal electromotor neurons. Such structure eliminates one [synapse|synaptic gap] between spinal electromotor neuron and the myogenic electrocytes, which might contribute to Apternotids' highest EOD frequency (2000 Hz) among electric fishes.
  
  Section::::Signals.
  
  Section::::Signals.:Types of signals.
   A scute is another, less common, type of scale. Scute comes from Latin for "shield", and can take the form of:
  
  BULLET::::- an external shield-like bony plate, or
  
  BULLET::::- a modified, thickened scale that often is keeled or spiny, or
  
  BULLET::::- a projecting, modified (rough and strongly ridged) scale, usually associated with the lateral line, or on the caudal peduncle forming caudal keels, or along the ventral profile.
   Catfish in the order Siluriformes have also shown behavioral responses to electric fields or DC poles. They can detect electric fields as low as .75 uV/cm. An early study by Parker and Hersen involving catfish used electrodes helped to determine the fish's response to current. When the electrodes released a current of 1 uA or more, the catfish would avoid the electrodes, and approach the electrode is the current was less than 1 uA and nibble at the area between the electrodes.
  
  Section::::See also.
  
  BULLET::::- Electric fish
  
  BULLET::::- Electroreception
  
  Section::::References.
   There is no simple way of differentiating a venomous snake from a non-venomous one merely by using a scale character. Finding out whether a snake is venomous or not is correctly done by identification of the species of a snake with the help of experts, or in their absence, close examination of the snake and using authoritative references on the snakes of the particular geographical region to identify it. Scale patterns help to indicate the species and from the references, it can be verified if the snake species is known to be venomous or not.
   BULLET::::- Cycloid scales have a smooth outer edge, and are most common on fish with soft fin rays, such as salmon and carp.
  
  BULLET::::- Ctenoid scales have a toothed outer edge, and are usually found on fish with spiny fin rays, such as bass and crappie.
  
  Section::::Reptilian scales.
   The bony scales of thelodonts, the most abundant form of fossil fish, are well understood. The scales were formed and shed throughout the organisms' lifetimes, and quickly separated after their death.
   Ganoid scales can be found on gars (family Lepisosteidae), bichirs, and reedfishes (family Polypteridae). Ganoid scales are similar to cosmoid scales, but a layer of ganoin lies over the cosmine layer and under the enamel. Ganoin scales are diamond shaped, shiny, and hard. 
  
  Within the ganoin are guanine compounds, iridescent derivatives of guanine found in a DNA molecule. The iridescent property of these chemicals provide the ganoin its shine.
  
  Section::::Fish scales.:Placoid scales.
  
raw_presuppositions: scales of reptile are electrically conductive.
raw_corrections: They are not really.