![]() Their compression-resistant exoskeletons also help prevent dehydration by providing the ability to collect, transport, and store water. Their thick exoskeletons are made of chitin, a polysaccharide, arranged such that one species, the diabolical ironclad beetle, can be run over by a car and still survive. ( Learn about why insect populations are plummeting.) When threatened, some species yank their legs and antennae into special grooves in their shell, leaving frustrated predators outside their fortress of super tough solitude. It takes a drill or hammer to get through these hard bodies. and Mexico is so tough that specimens can’t be pinned to boards. The ironclad beetle of the southwestern U.S. The scale’s corrugated surface helps it keep its integrity. The tough outer layer prevents predators from biting through the scales, and the collagen has enough give to allow for significant impact before breaking. These tough yet flexible scales provide yet another inspiration to engineers looking to develop better armor. The teeth can make it through one layer, but arapaimas have an average of three layers. They made their discovery by attaching piranha teeth to an industrial hole punch and bringing it down on arapaima scales embedded in rubber to mimic the fish’s muscle. They grow up to 10 feet long and can live in the close quarters with piranhas in the Amazon’s seasonal lakes, without fear of piranhas’ formidable chompers.Īrapaima armor consists of staggered layers of flexible scales made from layers of collagen and sealed in a mineralized cover, Meyers and his team found. “The arapaima is the piscine equivalent of the battleship,” Meyers says of these massive freshwater fish. Meyers and team hope that a better understanding of how the abalone shell’s structure works could help develop better bulletproof body armor for soldiers and police. And the protein-the "mortar"-allows the plates to slide so the shell can absorb impact without shattering. ![]() Though chalk can brittle, abalone shells layer it like bricks, which makes it extra tough. The abalone makes numerous layers of calcium carbonate (chalk) plates, one-two hundredths the width a human hair and bound with a glue-like protein. Meyers began studying animal as models for armor development 20 years ago for the U.S. This squishy gastropod lives in a shell that’s like a “bricks and mortar structure,” says Marc Meyers of the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. The material proved to be 70 percent more puncture-resistant than a continuous plate of the same thickness. Nonetheless, the armadillo’s segmented osteoderms inspired researchers at Montreal’s McGill University to create a protective material out of glass plates segmented into hexagons and set atop a soft substrate. Think of their armor more like a hard-shelled suitcase than a bulletproof vest. But if a predator like a dog or raptor does get to them, they can still pretty easily break the shell. “The shell protects the armadillos from thorny shrubs, under which they can hide from predators,” she says. They’re loosely connected for flexibility and are covered by a layer of keratin, the protein that makes up hair, nails, and horns, says Mariella Superina, chair of the IUCN’s anteater, sloth, and armadillo specialist group, via email. Their shells are made of bony plates called osteoderms that grow in the skin. Meet the animals that scientists have turned to for body armor “bioinspiration.” Armadillosĭespite reports of bullets ricocheting off armadillos, these creatures aren’t bulletproof. Shells, exoskeletons, scales-it makes us wonder about these real-life super suits. It’s pretty much the coolest armor ever made.Įxcept, perhaps, for some animals who make their own. If you’ve seen best-picture contender Black Panther leading up to this weekend’s Academy Awards, you probably marveled (gulp) at the title character’s vibranium suit.
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