Scientists normally explain the spectacular diversity of animal patterns by pointing to genetics. But a study in Nature suggests that, at least for crocodile heads, different forces might be at play.

Hair loss may all look the same to you. It’s either bald spots, a receding hairline, thinning hair or worst, all of the above. So it might be surprising to find out there’s a scale devoted to ...

Now, in a new study, Milinkovitch and his team reported that the polygonal head scales form due to the growth and compression of skin, which creates a self-organizing pattern of folds. 2 These ...

In the damp warmth of a crocodile’s egg, something extraordinary unfolds. The tiny embryo’s face begins to ripple and fold in a pattern that will become the fearsome array of scales we recognize on a ...