Gator body armor and battle scars! The osteoderms(also called scutes) are the ridges down the back and they’re incredible, they’re solid bone plates that act like body armor for the alligator, capable of even stopping a bullet. What’s really amazing is that the osteoderms evolved strictly for defense and are therefore far more dense bone than the rest of the gator’s skeletal structure(or yours obviously). So when an invasive python eats a gator in Florida, the snake can digest the gator skull an