Editing Scale (zoology) (section)

==Avian scales==
[[File:Riesenseeadler Fang.JPG|thumb|Scales on talons of a [[Steller's sea eagle]] (''Haliaeetus pelagicus'')]] 
{{main|Bird anatomy#Scales}}
Birds' scales are found mainly on the toes and metatarsus, but may be found further up on the ankle in some birds. The scales and scutes of birds were thought to be [[Homology (biology)|homologous]] to those of reptiles,<ref name=Lucas>{{cite book |last=Lucas |first=Alfred M. | name-list-style = vanc |year=1972 |title=Avian Anatomy - integument |location=East Lansing, Michigan, USA |publisher=USDA Avian Anatomy Project, Michigan State University |pages=67, 344, 394–601}}</ref> but are now agreed to have evolved independently, being degenerate feathers.<ref name="pmid23493711">{{cite journal | vauthors = Zheng X, Zhou Z, Wang X, Zhang F, Zhang X, Wang Y, Wei G, Wang S, Xu X | title = Hind wings in Basal birds and the evolution of leg feathers | journal = Science | volume = 339 | issue = 6125 | pages = 1309–12 | date = March 2013 | pmid = 23493711 | doi = 10.1126/science.1228753 | bibcode = 2013Sci...339.1309Z | s2cid = 206544531 }}</ref><ref name="pmid12949769">{{cite journal | vauthors = Sawyer RH, Knapp LW | title = Avian skin development and the evolutionary origin of feathers | journal =  Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution | volume = 298 | issue = 1 | pages = 57–72 | date = August 2003 | pmid = 12949769 | doi = 10.1002/jez.b.26 }}</ref>

[[Carcharodontosauridae|Carcharodontosaurid]] [[theropod]] dinosaur [[Concavenator]], is known to have possessed these feather-derived tarsal scutes.