What makes a dragon's scale so tough?

Many fantasy stories involve some variation of a dragon, and while there's a lot of variation in whether or not they fly, if they can breathe fire, how magical they are, etc., the strength of dragon scale is almost universal. Often, it is the hardiest material in the setting. My question is, by what (biological) means can a dragon grow scales as strong as, if not stronger than, iron or steel?

Some assumptions:

• Magic is not used to strengthen the scales; their toughness is all natural.
• How the toughness evolved isn't all that important, so long as it's possible to have happened naturally.
• The scales should be able to resist pretty strong forces, for now, lets say that the scales could resist basically anything a person could do with a handheld weapon.

posted about 6 years ago

Jetscooters‭

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