It’s rough in the wild! A tough outer layer helps these creatures survive.

HOW do animals protect themselves in the wild? They run fast, play dead, hide, or fight back. But some creatures stay safe the way a knight would: by wearing armor. An animal’s armor is a tough outer layer that helps shield the animal from the teeth and claws of a predator looking for a tasty meal. There are all sorts of armored animals: mammals, reptiles, insects, and sea creatures.

Which of the animals in this story do you think is the toughest?

HEAD-TO-TOE COVER
Armadillos are covered with bony plates, called osteoderms (AH-steeoh-durmz). The plates are covered with hard scales, called scutes, made of keratin. That’s the same thing your fingernails are made of!

TURTLE-Y SAFE
If it feels threatened, this eastern box turtle can pull its whole body inside its shell. But it can’t step OUT of its shell, just as you can’t step away from your skeleton. The shell is part of the turtle’s body!

BEACH GIANT
Meet the largest land crab on Earth: the coconut crab, a type of hermit crab. Most of the adult’s body is covered in tough plates. That means it doesn’t have to “borrow” a discarded shell from another animal, as many hermit crabs do.

THE QUEEN’S CASTLE
See the soft body of this large sea snail peeking out of its fancy shell? A queen conch (KONK) starts life as a tiny speck that floats in the ocean. Then it settles on the seabed and builds its strong SHELL-ter around itself.

CROC COVERING
Crocodiles have tough, scaly skin that covers rows of osteoderms. Not much could tear through those layers, which is one reason adult crocs don’t have many predators. (Those strong jaws and sharp teeth are two more reasons!)

SUPER SKIN
The Indian rhinoceros might look as if it has armor, but those platelike parts aren’t bone—they are made of extremely thick skin. It’s not just the skin’s thickness that protects the rhino, though. This skin is also super tough . . . one of the strongest animal skins in the world!

SAFETY WITH SCALES
Is that a giant pinecone or an animal? It’s a pangolin—a mammal with tough, flexible, sharp-edged scales. If a predator comes calling, the pangolin curls into a tight ball, covering its face with its tail.