Animal Armour
If you saw a pangolin you might say it looked like a pine cone with legs and a long tail.
A pangolin is one of the animals that is protected by armour. It’s covered with scales like those on pine cone, only bigger. When a pangolin is frightened, it rolls itself into ball. Then it tucks its head between its legs and covers its stomach with its tail. Its sharp-edged scales stick up. Not even a tiger would dare to bite through it.
The armadillo is another animal in armour. An armadillo is born with soft skin. But as it grows, its skin becomes covered with small, flat pieces of bone. This bony armour covers much of the armadillo’s body. The armadillo protects itself by rolling up into a hard, bony ball that even a wolf finds hard to bite.
Porcupines, hedgehogs, porcupine fish, and sea urchins wear a sort of armour, too. Their bodies are covered with sharp spines that keep other animals from biting them. These animals can’t run fast or fight well. But wearing armour helps they stay alive.