Anything Goes!

Welcome back to Jurassic June! Last time we covered the fierce and iconic Allosaurus. Today, we're taking a look at one of its most dangerous prey animals, the spiky tank that is the Stegosaurus.

Stegosaurus is not a singular species but rather a genus consisting of three species: S. stenops, S. ungulatus and S. sulcatus. Like Allosaurus, most Stegosaurus fossils come from the famous Morrison Formation of the western United States, though fossils have also been discovered in Portugal.

I want you to guess who described and named the species…I'll give you three seconds. Yep, that's right, it was Othniel C. Marsh, ah the fruits of a petty feud. Although the fossil itself was found by one Arthur Lakes around the summer of 1876. (he's also the one that found Allosaurus and a few other dinosaur fossils, and his paintings remain some of the only early visual records of these excavations.).

The first described Stegosaurus fossil was named S. armatus, but wait - that name isn't mentioned above, why is that? Well it's a story too long to cover here but it may end up as its own post, so keep an eye out for that!

Now, circling back around to the animal itself. The stegosaurs were absolute tanks, large heavy herbivores with plates on their back and spikes on their tail. Stegosaurus means 'roofed-lizard', alluding to their plates.

These plant eating tanks grew up to around 9.1 metres (30 ft) in length. The purpose of the plates on their back is heavily debated, it may have been for thermal regulation or simply for display.

On the other hand, the purpose of that spiky tail is overwhelmingly clear-a powerful defensive tool that they used quite well - just ask that one Allosaurus who died from a shot to the groin. This set of tail spikes is called a thagomizer, a pretty badass name.

You've probably heard that Stegosaurus had a brain the size of a walnut and was exceptionally stupid - a rather harsh and dumb take. The Stegosaurus was perfectly adapted for its environment, it was smart enough to do what it had to do.

It never had any evolutionary pressure to develop brain size compared to brawn. I mean really, if brain size was such an issue - most politicians would be out of a job.

There was an earlier theory which seemed to suggest that the Stegosaurus...get this…had a separate posterior brain to control its hind body. This theory was based on a spinal cavity found in its body thought to contain the 'second brain'. The issue? The cavity is present in other dinosaurs too, and in birds specifically, it was found to simply contain glycogen.

But that's really the beauty of science - you try and think of ideas, dumb as they seem. You then try and find evidence to support your claim and build up a theory, it doesn't always work out but that's the point.

One of the most complete Stegosaurus fossils found is of a young adult named Sophie, and it is 85% complete. Sophie the Stegosaurus has had a great contribution to our understanding of these amazing dinosaurs, and she is displayed at the Natural History Musuem in London.

Stegosaurus remains one of the most famous and iconic dinosaurs in history. Despite the fact that it had a tiny brain, it's not an animal you'd wanna mess with. I mean, do I need to remind you of the Allosaurus? Yeah, that's right.

That's all for this post, thank you so much for reading! What do you personally think the plates on its back were used for?

As always, additional information and corrections are welcome and highly encouraged! Have a good day!

🔗Sources/Additional info:

Natural History Museum of Utah - Stegosaurus armatus

Dinosaur National Monument (U.S National Park Service) - Stegosaurus ungulates

Natural History Museum - Stegosaurus

Under the Roof of Stegosaurus - Phillip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum

Image Credits:

Life restoration of the "Sophie" Stegosaurus specimen - Wikipedia commons

Stegosaurus paleoart - warpaintcobra, iStock

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