smooth glandular skin

[Bill Adlam <wa105@mead.anglia.ac.uk>]

Joshua asked:

>My final question isn't very dinosaur related, but what kind of skin 
>might pelycosaurs have had?  I have heard that parsimony might dictate a 
>smooth glandular skin, but I'm having trouble imagining exactly what 
>kind of skin is being talked about here.  Is there a living animal that 
>would have skin like this?

Humans are the most familiar animals with smooth glandular skin, although
we have some hair everywhere except the palms and soles.  Depending on age, 
sex, other genes and especially part of the body, this hair can often be 
very short and fine.  

Naked mole rats also have reduced hair, and they're secondarily ectothermic 
too.  Amphibians have a smooth, glandular skin, but they have adaptations 
for cutaneous respiration, requiring the skin to be kept moist - this 
probably makes them poor analogues.  The same goes for eels, but even more 
so.

                                                        All the best,

                                                                        Bill