Animals With a Shell Like a Suit of Armour

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Animals With a Shell Like a Suit of Armour

Almost impenetrable scales, needle-sharp quills, and stone-hard shells: the beast kingdom'southward inhabitants sport a wondrous array of battle-fix armour. To combat predators and the forces of nature, mammals, insects, and reptiles don a variety of protective shields. While noon predators like tigers and crocodiles rely on their immense strength, sharp teeth, and claws to hunt and protect themselves, it is oftentimes the teeniest and near defenceless of creatures that sport the toughest of armours in order to survive the wild. Go along an eye out for these incredible armoured species found in India.

The Indian pangolin is poached for the very armour that protects information technology from other predators. Due to widespread killing and a decline in numbers, the government has accorded it the highest levels of protection under the Wildlife (Protection) Deed of 1972. Photos: Ansar Khan

The next time you stumble upon a pinecone, look again. If y'all're in a tropical forest, chances are that the pinecone is really a pangolin that's curled up into a ball to protect itself from danger. The Indian pangolin is a shy and elusive fauna found in tropical areas. Covered in difficult scales made of keratin, the pangolin looks tough, clad in its accommodate of armour, but in reality it is toothless and quite defenceless. When threatened, their simply recourse is to gyre themselves up tightly. Though a pangolin is just a fraction of the size of a mighty tiger, even predators like large cats cannot penetrate their thick scales. The nocturnal creatures have a small caput, pointy muzzle, claws, and tail, lending them a distinctly reptilian appearance, merely they are actually mammals. Unfortunately a pangolin's armour cannot protect it against human trafficking, and the pocket-sized burrowing mammal is extensively hunted across Asia for its scales and pare.

Until a porcupine senses danger, its sharp quill lie flat, and stick out straight at the sign of a threat. It was once wrongly believed that porcupines can shoot their quills at predators, but they do detach easily when touched. Photo: Dhritiman Mukherjee

Until a porcupine senses danger, its abrupt quill lie flat, and stick out straight at the sign of a threat. It was in one case wrongly believed that porcupines can shoot their quills at predators, just they practice disassemble easily when touched. Photograph: Dhritiman Mukherjee

Small and frequently noisy, porcupines are easy prey in the wild. To avoid catastrophe up as a predator's next meal, the prickly rodent has employed an ingenious defence tactic. The weapon of choice? Its needle-clad armour. To fight off an assailant, a porcupine volition ram its spiky backside into its predator, leaving the larger animate being looking like a pincushion. Slender, sharp quills cover the body of the porcupine, protecting it against predators in the fields and forests it inhabits. The rodent tin can command its keratin quills, raising and lowering them every bit the occasion demands. Under threat, the animals will heighten its quills to appear larger. It can besides vibrate hollow quills to create a rattling sound equally a warning to predators. In one case out of harms way, they flatten their quills confronting their torso. Porcupines oft shed their quills, and it's mutual to run a risk upon these fallen needles in areas where the creatures live.

The olive Ridley turtle gets its name from the colour of its shell — an olive light-green hue. Photograph: Dhritiman Mukherjee

The leatherback turtle is the largest of all turtles and can weigh over 700 kgs, with the shell that can be up to 2m long. Photo: Alastair Rae — CC BY-SA 2

The leatherback turtle is the largest of all turtles and can weigh over 700 kgs, with the crush that can be up to 2m long. Photo: Alastair Rae — CC BY-SA ii

Have you lot e'er wondered how leatherback and olive Ridley turtles get their names? For the answer, we only have to look to their shells. A leatherback turtle'south vanquish texture is leathery and softer in comparison to other sea turtles. An olive Ridley turtle'south shell sports a distinct olive hue. There are more 300 varieties of turtles found across the world. Each species' shell may differ in texture, way, and colour, but serves a common purpose: to deed every bit an armour for its internal organs. The hard carapace is part of the skeleton, fused together with the spine and rib cage, and covered in a series of plates called scutes. Turtles may be slow on land, but an adult turtle'southward solid shell protects it against faster predators.

Photograph: A tortoise beetle gets its name from its ability to retreat into its beat like a tortoise at the sign of danger. Vengolis — CC BY-SA four.0

There is no need to get alarmed by a stag beetle's jaws. Stag beetles use their antler-like jaws to fight rivals, and not necessarily seize with teeth. Photo: Youngku Lee/Pixabay

True to their names, dung beetles feed mostly on feces, and are known to carry weight that is more than 1,000 times its own bodyweight. Photo: Dhritiman Mukherjee

Truthful to their names, dung beetles feed mostly on carrion, and are known to carry weight that is more 1,000 times its own bodyweight. Photo: Dhritiman Mukherjee

Beetles are unique insects with plate-like armours and sheathed wings. Beetles have two pairs of wings, but the front wings (elytra) have hardened to form protective sheaths, covering the fragile hind wings, which they use to fly. India is home to a vast diversity of beetles, many of which are named for their distinct armour or other physical characteristics. True to their name, elephant beetles are massive creatures, at least in the insect kingdom, and the males accept protruding horns. Tortoise beetles are named for their dome-shaped exoskeletons, while stag beetles take jaws that look similar antlers.