STEGOSAURUS
Of the armored dinosaurs called stegosaurs,the
best known and largest was STEGOSAURUS. Along
its back ran two rows of alternating bony plates attached
to the flesh, not the spine bones. At the end of the
tail sat four dangerous looking spikes, probably used
as a defense against large predators of the time,
like allosaurus. The skull held a brain the
size of a walnut, so this dinosaur was not very intelligent.
At the base of the tail was a nerve bundle that probably
helped to move the tail. Many people think this nerve
bundle was another brain, but that was not the case.
Stegosaurus was a quadruped, but may have reared up
on its back legs to reach higher vegetation to eat.
|
|
STATS
|
| ORDER |
Ornithischia |
| SUBORDER |
Thyreophora |
| FAMILY |
Stegosauridae |
| DIET |
Herbivorous |
| SIZE |
30 feet long,2 tons |
| PERIOD |
Late Jurassic |
| RANGE |
Western North America |
|
|
|
BACK
Copyright ©2000 Neil Riehle
|
