During most of the Cenozoic the primates have enjoyed a degree of security among the treetops. For even though there were some predators, none was adapted to prey on them specifically, but that was before the striger. The clatta, with its heavily armored tail protected by a series of overlapping horny plates, demonstrates this principle. When a striger attacks, it drops down and hangs from a branch by its tail. The clatta is now safe (the only part within reach of the predator is too heavily armored to be vulnerable).