Dorsal crest scales and those of the tail spines of the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) represent different specializations involved in display and protection. Erection of the dorsal crest occurs in males during combat and courtship, but tail spines are not noticeably involved in these activities. In both scale derivatives corneous beta proteins (CBPs, formerly called beta-keratins) and intermediate filaments keratins (IFKs) were determined by immunolabelling. The dermis is dense with few sparse fibrocytes surrounded by collagen bundles, the latter rather randomly oriented in the crest scales. In the tail ridge scales banded collagen I fibrils form more regular, orthogonally aligned bundles of alternating layers with connections to the basal epidermal membrane. A conglomerate of dermal melanonophores and iridophores is present under the epidermis. The iridophores are the likely origin of the whitish colour of the crest. The epidermis shows a thicker beta-layer with serrated/indented corneocytes in the tail scales while the beta layer is reduced in the crest but contains CBPs. A relatively thick mesos layer is present in both scale derivatives, especially in the crest where its role, aside from limiting transpiration, is not known. The alpha-layer is formed by corneocytes with irregular perimeter and sparse desmosomal remnants. The high labelling intensity for CBPs in the beta-layer disappears in the mesos layer but occurs, albeit strongly reduced, in the alpha-layer as in the other body scales. The take-home message is that the dense dermis and its apical beta-layer strengthen mechanically the ridge spines while the crest is mainly supported by the firm but pliable and less dense or regular dermis.

大蜥蜴（Sphenodon punctatus）的背嵴鳞片和尾棘鳞片) 代表涉及显示和保护的不同专业。在战斗和求爱期间，雄性会竖起背嵴，但尾刺并不明显参与这些活动。在两种鳞片衍生物中，角质β蛋白（CBP，以前称为β-角蛋白）和中间丝角蛋白（IFK）均通过免疫标记测定。真皮致密，少数稀疏的纤维细胞被胶原束包围，后者在冠鳞中相当随机。在尾脊鳞片中，I 型胶原蛋白原纤维形成更规则、正交排列的交替层束，并与基底表皮膜相连。表皮下存在真皮黑色素细胞和虹膜细胞的集合体。虹彩细胞可能是羽冠白色的起源。表皮显示出较厚的 β 层，尾鳞中有锯齿状/锯齿状角质细胞，而 β 层在嵴中减少但含有 CBP。两种尺度衍生物中都存在相对较厚的中间层，特别是在波峰中，除了限制蒸腾作用外，它的作用尚不清楚。α 层由具有不规则周长和稀疏桥粒残余物的角质细胞形成。β 层中 CBP 的高标记强度在中间层消失，但在 α 层和其他身体鳞片中出现，尽管强烈降低。带回家的信息是，致密的真皮及其顶端 β 层机械地加强脊刺，而嵴主要由坚固但柔韧且密度较小或规则的真皮支撑。