Stegosaurus - "Roof Lizard"
They inhabited what is now Western North
America.
They were part of the Late Jurassic period.
The Jurassic Period
The Jurassic Period is defined as the
period between 201 – 145 million years ago, following the Triassic period.
In the period, there was great plant-eating
dinosaurs roaming around the earth, small carnivores stalking the great
herbivores, forests of ferns, cycads and conifers and oceans filled with sea
life.
Early in the Jurassic, the continents were all jammed together, towards the middle, they all started to break up, resulting in many flooded areas. By the end of the Jurassic period, the skies were filled with flying dinosaurs like the dimorphodon, pterosaurs and the pterodactylus.
The Jurassic was a period with warm and
moist climate with tropical breezes, animals and plants were now found nearly
worldwide, instead of being in a particular area.
The end of the period is unknown, there is
a theory that it was triggered by a huge methane deposit within the Earth.
Attacking and Defending
The stegosaurus was a peaceful dinosaur
that probably roamed in small herds. It is easy to recognize due to its plates
on its back and the spikes on its tail. It has an average sense of sight, a
poor sense of smell and an average sense of hearing.
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The plates on it’s back were hollow and soft,
which was probably not used for protection. Scientists believe that the plates
were used to help regulate or control its temperature. Blood could flow into
the plates, either cooling it down or heating it up which is one way for the
Stegosaurus to survive.
Its eyes of the Stegosaurus were located on
either side of its head, making it easier to spot danger quicker.
The stegosaurus had four spikes on its tail called the
thagomizers. Each thagmozier was two feet long. With one powerful swing of the
tail, It could stab the enemy with one or even two of its thagmizers; leaving
an agonizing or fatal wound.
It didn't need to hunt because it was a herbivore.
Body
The Stegosaurus was a large herbivore that carried around two rows of bony plates along
its back that made it appear even bigger.
The Stegosaurus was about 9 metres long, and 4 metres tall and weighed about 3100 kg.
Its brain was about the size of a walnut,
making the dinosaur with the lowest brain-to-body ratio.
Its skull was long; pointed a narrow. It
had a very small head with a tiny brain and a toothless beak.
It’s plates were large, flat, bony and a
triangular like shape along its back.
It had a heavy, spiked tail for protection
and it walked on four legs, but the two back legs were twice as long as its
front legs.
Diet
The
Stegosaurus was a herbivore.
It’s
toothless beak only allowed them to crush and chew plants.
They
ate plants such as ferns, mosses, horsetails, cycads and bushy conifers.
