squamation

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The condition of being scaly.
• noun An arrangement of scales, as on a fish.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun In zoology, the state or character of being squamate, squamose, or scaly; the collection or formation of scales or squamæ of an animal: as, the squamation of a lizard, snake, or pangolin. Compare desquamation.