osteoderm Zool.
(ˈɒstiːəʊdɜːm)
[Back-formation from osteodermal adj. s.v. osteo-.]
A bony plate in the skin, esp. in reptiles.
| 1898 H. Gadow Classification of Vertebrata 27 Body scaly without osteoderms. 1902 Proc. Zool. Soc. I. 208 Exquisite examples of true dermal bones are those ossifications ‘within the skin’ which in Amphibia and Reptiles are now generally called osteoderms. 1969 A. Bellairs Life of Reptiles II. vii. 319 Many reptiles have an armour of bony scutes or osteoderms in the dermal layers of the skin. |