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When Fish Wore Armor

Season 1 Episode 51 | 9m 37s

420 million years ago, some fish were more medieval. They wore armor, sometimes made of big plates, and sometimes made of interlocking scales. But that armor may actually have served a totally different purpose, one that many animals still use today.

Aired: 07/23/18
Extras
What did ancient people once know about these bizarre megafauna that we’ve since forgotten?
5,700 years ago, woolly mammoths crossed a remote tundra island off Alaska.
Why did vertebrates conquer both the land and the air before the depths of the sea?
Long-extinct dinosaurs may still haunt us—possibly driving us to age faster than any vertebrate.
Only twice in Earth's history have supermountains risen, and both times reshaped life forever.
Was the T-Rex given the wrong name?
500+ pterosaur fossils found at Solnhofen may be hiding a dark secret distorting our view of them.
Why are our teeth so sensitive? The answer originates in the armored skin of ancient fish.
For flowering plants to take over, they first helped burn the old world—and then put the fires out.
Ancient weeds mimicked crops, tricking farmers into domesticating friends—and enemies—by mistake.
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What did ancient people once know about these bizarre megafauna that we’ve since forgotten?
5,700 years ago, woolly mammoths crossed a remote tundra island off Alaska.
Why did vertebrates conquer both the land and the air before the depths of the sea?
Long-extinct dinosaurs may still haunt us—possibly driving us to age faster than any vertebrate.
Only twice in Earth's history have supermountains risen, and both times reshaped life forever.
Was the T-Rex given the wrong name?
500+ pterosaur fossils found at Solnhofen may be hiding a dark secret distorting our view of them.
Why are our teeth so sensitive? The answer originates in the armored skin of ancient fish.
For flowering plants to take over, they first helped burn the old world—and then put the fires out.
Ancient weeds mimicked crops, tricking farmers into domesticating friends—and enemies—by mistake.