How are reptile scales attached?

Question

I used to have a lizard and remember the skin always coming off in one piece (well, multiple pieces, but the skin and scales were fused together).

Do the scales fuse to the skin before shedding, or are they always one piece? I always thought scales were mounted in the same way that hair/feathers are (and maybe fish scales too?) where each one is individually attached and separate from the skin.

Or is it something completely different?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Isn’t it like your nails which start from a bed of tissue that differentiates the cells to make them into nails but it’s a continuation of cells that make up the cuticle and before that subcutaneous tissue?

Edit: sorry, not an explanation for a 5yo