it might be too late asa lot of thinking went into this but as a painter who has worked on things like an alligator if I misseda single scale in the vertebrea the result wouldbe distracting to my eye. It would just feel uneasy.  

I would like to suggest that you look at the bottom of a bear foot and see the pads. This might be the secret ingredient.

I have foundpaint duabs and gausian filter on a top layer to remove the noise and add some artisitc flare to the piece without distroying the intent of reproduction then mask the result and allow the shaper requirment to peak through, like faces and buttons. You do this gently with a soft brush and a mask.