bony plates
Hard protective scales
Bony plates are rigid, flattened structures made of bone that form protective armor on certain animals.
They appear most famously on armadillos, whose shells consist of interlocking bony plates covered with keratin, and on stegosaurus, known for the distinctive plates along its back.
Crocodilians and some fish species also have bony plates called scutes or osteoderms embedded in their skin.
The fossil showed well-preserved bony plates from an ancient armored fish.
- fish scalesOverlapping skin plates
- armorProtective combat covering
- body armorProtective garment stopping bullets
- scutesHorny epidermal plates
- carapaceProtective dorsal exoskeleton
sea turtle · hard shell · shell · exoskeleton · turtle · armadillo · fossil · fossil record · skeleton · ossified · ridged · protective · protective covering · sturdy · segmented · calcified · prehistoric · stegosaurus
- scalesweight, measure, balance, balance scale, digital scale
- dinosaur featureslong tail, spiked tail
- reptile anatomyskeleton, lungs, skull, ribs, eyes
- skeletal featuresvertebrae, rib cage, spinal column, vertebral column, shoulder blade
- Cory Catfishbarbels
- reptile bonesskull, femur, tibia, fibula, humerus