Scutoid, Four Cell Configuration

Scutoids are a geometrical solution to three-dimensional packing of epithelia as published in Nature announces the discovery of a "new" shape.

I found the mathematical definition of a scutoid to be a bit vague. I suspect that rather than being previously undiscovered, as headlines suggest, it was left unnamed because it is messy geometrically. Its closest relative the prismatoid has nice planer faces while the scutoid most often has non-planer faces and a "mid-level vertex". Subjectively speaking: the scutoid looks a bit clumsy in isolation but shines when coupled with other mating scutoids.

The importance of the shape comes from its newly discovered abundance in nature, its hidden vertex being shielded from view by adjoining cells. The paper didn't offer any euclidean definition and even left the definition vague enough to tantalize the possibility of multiple mid-level vertices and therefore hexagonal to trapezoidal transformations. The paper did; however, have helpful vi