Could human bone act as effective natural armor?

I've recently come across a disease that I am unhealthily intrigued by: Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva. Basically, instead of soft tissue healing normally, it calcifies and grows bone to replace damaged cells. This is, obviously, very unhealthy and currently lacks any form of treatment.

Now, onto the question. Would human bone be useful as a kind of armor/exo-skeleton? Could it prove light enough, but strong enough to protect against predators and the elements?

What I imagine is large flat plates that cover inflexible parts of the body (forearm, torso, etc) like a suit of armor might. Another possibility is that it grows as scales, which is more flexible.

For this question, I will assume that the armor grows with the body, avoiding the obvious health risks

EDIT: I just want to clear this up. I only reference the disease as the inspiration for the question. I didn't mean for it to factor into the question

posted almost 7 years ago

RenegadePizzaGuy‭

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