Spiny mice and their closest relatives are one of two living mammal groups that have bony armor in their skin, the other being armadillos.
. Before the scans, only one other group of modern mammals was known to wield this kind of armor: armadillos. The discovery, reported May 24 in, may mean that the skin bones are more widespread in mammals than previously thought and could shed light on their evolution.
A more detailed CT scan showed the mouse’s whole tail was covered in overlapping bony plates within the skin, under the surface layers. “If you can stop the teeth or the claws of your predator at the tearaway boundary, then it’s much easier to get away,” Stanley explains. The mice regenerate the lost skin later.
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