The interscale skin of the intermandibular‐gular regions of Alligator mississippiensis serves as a distribution system for the conditioning secretion of the gular gland

The skin of alligators is covered by plate‐like, non‐imbricate and hard‐cornified scales that are separated by a network of soft‐cornified interscale skin. The width of the interscale skin is correlated with the local expansibility of the skin. In most of the intermandibular‐gular region, the skin needs to stretch significantly when large prey items are swallowed to allow for the expansion of the pharynx. The interscale skin is widest along the mandibular rami where it forms longitudinal folds and channels that radiate rostrally from the paired gular gland orifices. The surface of these interscale channels is studded with small scale bumps. These wide channels are interconnected by a network of smaller, stretchable channels, whose surface structures are regionally distinct. The structured surface of the channels may enhance capillary action of the oily gular gland secretion as it is massaged through the channels by movements of the intermandibular‐gular skin during deglutition. This configuration of the intermandibular‐gular skin suggests that the channels serve to distribute the oily secretion of the gular gland to condition the stretchable interscale skin so as to keep it pliable and elastic. In contrast, the unyielding interscale skin in the area that subtends the hyoid and larynx is very narrow and has a smooth surface structure.