Stegosaurus
Stegosaurus armatus
Pronounced:
Steg - o - Saw - rus
Diet:
Herbivore (Plant-Eater)
Name Means:
"roofed lizard"
Length:
28 feet (9 m)
Height:
8 feet (2.7 m)
Weight:
2 tons (1,800 kilos)
Time:
Late Jurassic - 155 MYA
Fossil remains for this Dinosaur have been found in North America
Easily one of
the best known
of all the
dinosaurs,
Stegosaurus is
recognized the
world over. The
unique plates
along its back,
its small head
and spiked tail
make it a
peculiar and
unique dinosaur.
This plant-eater
evolved to find
its food in the
low-growing
plants of the
late Jurassic.
The long
fearsome spikes
on its tail
would have made
a powerful
weapon against
predators.
Stegosaurus is often called
the dumbest dinosaur because of
its incredibly small brain. In
fact, most scientists believe
that its brain was too small to
control such a large creature
and that it used an auxiliary
"brain" located above its rear
legs to help control its
movements. This was not actually
a brain, but a bundle of nerves
that helped relay information
from its real brain.
Most fascinating to people
are the plates along its back.
There has been a great deal of
debate about their use and
arrangement. The plates were up
to 2-feet tall and 2-feet wide
(.6 m). The most prevalent
theory is that they were used
for cooling or heating the
animal. A more recent theory,
however, suggests that they
could have been used as a
display during courtship and
that they may have been brightly
colored. It is also possible
that they could move up and
down, perhaps to intimidate
predators.
The spikes on its tail are
also the subjects of some
controversy. For years every
model of Stegosaurus showed it
with the spikes sticking up into
the air. It is only since the
1990's that it has become
accepted that these spikes stuck
out horizontal to the ground,
which would have been a potent
defensive weapon when swung at a
hunter.
Stegosaurus would have lived
in family groups and possibly
herds, moving slowly through
forests while eating the
low-growing plants. Its front
legs were considerably shorter
than its hind legs, making it
adapted to nibbling the plants
closest to the ground.
Stegosaurus is the namesake for
a large family of dinosaurs
whose members were found all
over the world. |
