By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The word armor might evoke a picture of a knight clad in metal, but creatures from the tiniest insects to ancient fish, giant alligators and dinosaurs have been using armor as protection for millions of years.
The Sternberg Museum of Natural History opened a new exhibit, "Animal Armor," by Gaston Designs of Grand Junction, Colorado, this week.
"Instead of focusing on one animal group, we are taking an idea, armor, and having a chance to look at how that's used across all animal groups," Reese Barrick, museum director, said. ... "It gives you a diversity of things to look at."
He said visitors also have the chance to see how armor has evolved across Earth's history.
As you enter the museum, a couple of the more stunning armored creatures greet you. One is a prehistoric crocodile-like creature, Sarcosuchus, that lived in North Africa, and the other is a prehistoric alligator-like creature, Deinosuchus, found in North America.
Deinosuchus lived between 83.5 million and 70.6 million years ago. The animals could grow up to 11,000 pounds and reach lengths of 45 feet. Their teeth could grow as large as six inches.
"It's interesting to see that even the big carnivores have lots of armor," Barrick said. "There are always big crocodiles that will eat smaller ones. Everyone needs animal armor, even if you are a super predator."
Both creatures, like modern-day alligators and crocodiles, possess dermal armor, characterized by bony plates embedded in their skin.
Sarcosuchus, with its narrower snout, was probably a fish-eater, Barrick said. However, Deinosuchus, which had a more rounded snout, probably could snatch dinosaurs off banks, he said.
A Jurassic crocodilian is also featured, which predated the Sarcosuchus and Deinosuchus, but was much smaller and also had armor on its belly.
Once you crest the stairs in the exhibit hall, you go forward in time to modern-day insects and sea creatures.
You can see an array of beetles, along with snails (gastropods) and crabs (arthropods), including the shell of a giant clam, which still lives in our oceans today.
The Eurypterids, ancient arthropods also commonly referred to as sea scorpions, were heavily armored. Most examples average only about 5 to 9 inches in length, but some Eurypterids could grow as large as 8 feet long.
They had to be considering what they swam with and ate in the shallow seas about 420 million years ago.
The fish in those seas also had armor, multiple examples of which can be seen in the exhibit at the Sternberg. These armored fish lived until about 320 million years ago, when fish closer to our modern fish began to appear, Barrick said.
"Something is always trying to eat you, so armor has always been a mainstay of protection," Barrick said.
Akainacephalus is one of the armored dinosaurs that had a clubbed tail.
These creatures ate plants, but had large spikes on their backs and used their clubbed tail in defense.
"If you are big and you can't hide, and you're slow and you can't run, you develop armor as a way to protect yourself," Barrick said. ... "These particular guys aren't very smart, either. They have very small brains. If you're big, slow and stupid, it's good to have armor."
During the Ice Age, you would have seen creatures that more closely resembled modern animals, but much larger.
The exhibit has an example of a Glyptodon. It looks like a giant armadillo and would have been found in South America between 12,000 and 100,000 years ago.
The exhibit concludes with examples of modern mammals that use armor, including armadillos, hedgehogs, porcupines and the endangered pangolins of Africa.
Not to be excluded are humans. Although humans have used metal for centuries in armor, the exhibit also features a replica of a suit of armor crafted from crocodilian skin, as well as replicas of helmets adorned with antlers and crab pincers.
"What I think is interesting is that you think of armored animals, you might think of armored dinosaurs or armadillos," Barrick said, "but what I want people to know is that armor has been important throughout the whole evolutionary history of the planet, from fish to snails to all sorts of invertebrates to insects.
"Insects have some of the most dynamic armor on the planet. Every key animal group you can think of has developed armor because it is one of the key things to avoid being eaten," he said. "If you want to survive to reproduce, you have to survive and not be eaten by something else. There's always something that's trying to eat you."
Animals have utilized armor in various ways.
"But there's always the battle between how do you eat something and how do you keep from being eaten," Barrick said. "If you have armor, you're trying to keep from being eaten, but someone is trying to defeat that armor to survive also."
The exhibit will be on display through Sept. 15. Admission to the exhibit is available with museum general admission or free to members.
The museum is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 1 to 6 p.m. Sundays through the summer.
Admission
Adults (age 13-59) $10
Youths (age 4-12) $7
Senior citizens (60+) $9
FHSU students (w/valid ID) $6
You can learn more about the museum or get help planning your trip at the museum's website or by following the museum on Facebook.