Outer Skin Bones (Osteoderms) in Animals and their Functions

3 months ago

It is no doubt that humans are animals but then we have our bones forming our skeletal structures but there are other animals that have their bones inside their skins completely detached from the rest of their skeleton and these type of skin structure is referred to as Osteoderm. You begin to ask yourself why these animals keep this type of bony structure.

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From keeping them safe from predators to keeping their blood from getting too acidic, and to get away from predators. Animals that usually have osteoderm are tetrapods which includes reptiles, amphibians, and even mammals. You might begin to ask that you thought mammals had hairs and not skeleton outside their skin, well mammals like armadilo that are placental mammals live as Osteoderm.

Until 2023, scientist only proved Armadilo to be the only living mammals that grew dermal bones but in recent times, scientists using microtomography to scan rodents in museum found that tails of the Cairo Spiny mouse looked dark as it was covered with osteoderms. With this, they investigated other rodents and found that so many rodents have osteoderms in their tail. Rodents use the bones in the tails to cover tissues of their tails and also use it as a way to protect themselves when they self amputate to prevent them from being killed by predators.

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Another animal that can possess osteoderm are snakes as they are found in the tail tips of four Sand Boa species. Sand Boas are burrowing snakes having both head and tail look alike. The osteoderm in the tail of the sand boa help it save itself from predators and preys alike. Similar to snakes are crocodiles have Osteoderm but they have it all over their back, tail and head. The Osteoderm help to protect the organs of the crocodile as well as stiffen the back of the crocodile. crocodile Osteoderm has lots of blood vessels flowing through them and the bones release calcium to help neutralize excess acids.

Another animal with osteoderm is the Stegasarus which it in a double row running down its spine from its neck to its tail. It existed about 150 million years ago, and this bone was important for thermal regulation in the animal amongst other things that scientist has hypothesized its use for. The Osteoderm could also be used for show offs when it came to mating given that different Stegasarus had different osteoderm.

Another specie of Dinosaur had Osteoderm and it was the Rapetosaurus Krausei. Paleontologist think that their fancy skin bones serve a purpose similar to camel humps. Animals like the female alligators extract calcium from their Osteoderms to build their eggshells as researchers found that alligators that just laid eggs had 10% less densed osteoderm than their couterparts that weren't ovulating. These researches are still fresh and we cannot say for sure for their purposes are in full.

The existence of osteoderms in various animals demonstrates the remarkable adaptability and diversity of nature. These unique skeletal structures serve crucial functions, ranging from protection against predators to aiding in self-defense mechanisms. The ongoing discoveries in this field highlight the intricacies of the animal kingdom and the importance of continuous scientific exploration.