Armadillo & Armor

Long before the European armies invaded the Americas, plated armor had been constructed with the design that resembled the structure of the nine-banded armadillo.  This defense mechanism allows the animal to curl somewhat, exactly as what was needed for the fingers, elbows, shoulders and knees of the armored knights.  This is an example of human engineering that has converged toward the natural design.  In Option D Species & Speciation, students need to compare convergent and divergent evolution.  Of course, students should use natural world examples but to help them visualize how different organisms can resemble each other, this may be a good illustration.  The armadillo, which lives in Southern US to South America, exhibits covergent evolution with the pangolin of Africa and India in the armor plates, long sticky tongue as well as with the reduced dentition.