Stegosaurus Stegosaurus' Boney Back
Stegosaurus had large plates sticking out of its back. In fact, Stegosaurus means covered lizard or
roofed lizard. Stegosaurus' bony plates are a bit of a mystery. They were embedded in its back, but they were not attached to its
bones. No one really knows how they were positioned. Did they stick up, flop over or have a mind of their own? The reason for the plates is also unknown. They were made of bone but were filled with
tube-like tunnels. The plates probably helped control Stegosaurus's
temperature (sort of like
built-in air conditioning). They could have also been for
protection or even a
display for mating.
Stegosaurus Is One Spikey Dude
As if Stegosaurus' spikey back wasn't enough, it had
spikes up to four feet long on the end of its flexible tail. The number of tail spikes depended on the species of Stegosaurus.
Stegosaurus ungulatis had eight spikes and
Stegosaurus stenops had four spikes.
Simple Stegosaurus
If the size of its brain says anything about its intelligence, Stegosaurus would have been one dumb bunny. Stegosaurus had a
tiny brain. It was only the
size of a walnut. Considering that Stegosaurus grew up to 30 feet (9 m) long, that's not much brain power.
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