How to Use denticle in a Sentence

denticle

noun
  • But the longer the sharks spent bathing in the harsh liquid, the worse off their denticles were.
    — Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian, 21 Dec. 2019
  • Stingray barbs are a kind of dermal denticle—like a tooth—on a tail that can be whipped around.
    — Katharine Gammon, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 June 2024
  • Perhaps the next stage of research should be to determine how sharks keep their denticles clean.
    — The Physics Arxiv Blog, Discover Magazine, 26 Mar. 2024
  • These skin denticles decrease drag in the water and help sharks glide more quietly.
    — Lauren Kent, CNN, 28 Nov. 2019
  • Now, denticles, the toothlike protrusions that cover the skin of sharks, can be added to the list.
    — Quanta Magazine, 2 Jan. 2019
  • Shark skin, too, is covered with dermal denticles—tiny teeth, which keep away the barnacles that plague whales.
    — Katherine Rundell, The New Yorker, 29 July 2024
  • But don't expect to see swimmers sluicing through the water in denticle suits anytime soon.
    — April Reese, Discover Magazine, 15 May 2014
  • The shape, size and arrangement of denticles vary not just between shark species but even across different parts of the same shark’s body.
    — Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 26 Apr. 2025
  • In free-swimming sharks like the great white, denticles account for up to 12 percent of their swimming speed.
    — Matt Simon, Wired, 19 Dec. 2019
  • The denticles look like tiny teeth—in fact, one theory holds that teeth actually evolved from these skin structures.
    — Brian Clark Howard, National Geographic, 8 Aug. 2019
  • Enlarge / Great white sharks can reduce drag at different swimming speeds thanks to high and low ridged denticles in its skin.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 12 Aug. 2024
  • Though shark skin appears smooth, it's actually covered in tiny toothlike scales called denticles.
    — Sydney Pereira, Newsweek, 7 Feb. 2018
  • The team reasoned that some cameras stuck longer because the manta’s skin had more mucus, which filled in the gaps between denticles and made for a stronger seal.
    — National Geographic, 12 May 2017
  • One study found that shark denticles are responsible for an up to 12 percent increase in swimming speed.
    — Rachel Nuwer, Scientific American, 19 Dec. 2019
  • The denticle record had been previously used to document shark occurrences in deep time.
    — Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes, 1 Sep. 2021
  • Unlike the typical scales found on bony fishes, which are thin and overlapping, dermal denticles are hard and tooth-like in structure.
    — Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes, 17 July 2023
  • In the scans, the scientists found both the oil-transporting capillaries and tiny, scale-like denticles around the opening of each pore.
    — National Geographic, 6 July 2016
  • One of the shark species studied also directs the glowing light through tiny, rigid denticles on its skin to enhance the fluorescent effect.
    — Brian Clark Howard, National Geographic, 8 Aug. 2019
  • At least in the case of the chain cat shark, the dark denticles serve as optical waveguides, channeling the fluorescence signal along their body length.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 8 Aug. 2019
  • There are new wetsuits that have copied the overlapping teeth-like denticles of shark skin to reduce drag, and goggles that copy how fish and some flowers trap water to create a clearer view.
    — Matthew Berger, Smithsonian, 26 May 2018
  • Just like real dermal denticles, these riblets guide airflow in a way that minimizes turbulence and resistance.
    — Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 26 Apr. 2025
  • Winning combination The authors of this latest paper focused on how the great white shark's denticles might reduce friction drag.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 12 Aug. 2024
  • By attacking them from below, the orcas avoid the whale sharks' tough dorsal skin that has denticles embedded on the outside, with thick connective tissue beneath it.
    — New Atlas, 29 Nov. 2024
  • Numerous small denticles typically cover the palate, sometimes accompanied by a few larger teeth.
    — Darren Naish, Scientific American Blog Network, 7 July 2017
  • What's interesting about that finding is that Troodon's diet has been the subject of much debate in paleontology due to its unique denticle pattern.
    — Gemma Tarlach, Discover Magazine, 26 Apr. 2018
  • According to new research, the secret to its distinctive hue lies in its tooth-like scales, called dermal denticles, which contain guanine crystals and melanosomes that reflect and absorb wavelengths respectively.
    — Rosie McCall, Discover Magazine, 14 July 2025
  • Unique to this species is a white band of denticles across its upper jaw, which researchers believe could reflect bioluminescent light from deep-sea plankton, potentially attracting prey in the dark waters where these sharks often roam.
    — Melissa Cristina Marquez, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024
  • So Auerswald and his colleagues decided to simulate the effects of acidification on the denticles of puffadder shysharks (Haploblepharus edwardsii) in the lab.
    — Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian, 21 Dec. 2019
  • Researchers from the University of Florida recently discovered that shark denticles are laid down by a Turing-like mechanism directed by the same genes responsible for feather pattern formation.
    — Quanta Magazine, 2 Jan. 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'denticle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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