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alligator skin snake skin Bright yellow tanned hides lay flat on the ground to dry at a leather tannery in Fes, Morocco.
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hide, the pelt taken from a cow, steer, or bull of the bovine species, from the pelt of a horse, or from the integument of some other large adult animal. The pelts of smaller animals are commonly called skins—namely, sheepskins, goatskins, calfskins, etc. For the preservation and tanning of hides, see leather.