Fish scales referable to future armor

This combo photo shows Polypterus senegalus (L) and a design of fish scale armor.

U.S. researchers said the design of fish scales may refer to the future armor, media reported on Monday.

A team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which studied scales from Polypterus senegalus, said fish scales design deflects the pressure of crunching bite from predators, forcing cracks to run in a circle around the penetration site and preventing them spreading through the entire scale.

"Many of the design principles we describe -- durable interfaces and energy-dissipating mechanisms, for instance -- may be translatable to human armor systems," MIT's Christine Ortiz, who led the study, said in a statement.

P. Senegalus usually lives at the bottom of freshwater, muddy shallows and estuaries in Africa.

The species, known for its heavy armor, evolved it millions of years ago.

(Agencies)