Scutes of a turtle's carapace
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By Hans Hillewaert after Piper Stone, via Wikipedia.
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The carapace of a turtle, its upper (dorsal) shell, is divided into plates called scutes that overlie a layer of interlocking bones. Typically the scutes are made of keratin, which also makes up human fingernails and the horns of animals such as cattle. Leatherbacks, however, do not have a hard shell; instead, they carry a mosaic of bony plates beneath their leathery skin.
The central scutes run the length of the carapace, in the middle of the back, from head to tail. The costal scutes run along each side of the central scutes. The marginal scutes run along the perimeter of the carapace. The nuchal scutes are just behind the turtle’s head, and the supracaudal are next to its tail.
