Flat cells that look like fish scales. The word “squamous” came from the Latin squama meaning “the scale of a fish or serpent.”
We have a lot of squamous cells. They make up most of the cells in the outer layer of the skin (the epidermis), the passages of the respiratory and digestive tracts, and the linings of the hollow organs of the body. We are more fish-like (or serpent-like) than we may think.