Stegosaurus

• Timeline: 155-150 mya (millions of years ago)
• Location: Western U.S. and Portugal
• Size: Length: 25-30 ft  Height: 9 ft. tall at hips Weight: 6,000-7,000 lbs.

This week's dinosaur of the week is a favorite among children and sticks with adults. It is the...... Stegosaurus!  Stegosaurus was  quadripedal, it walked on all four feet, and probably traveled in herds, as nearly every herbivorous dinosaur did for protection. Likewise, every herbivore is known to be a herbivore because of its small head and flat teeth which are terrible for hunting and consuming meat. It had 3- foot long plates called 'scutes' running along its back, terminating in four sharp tail spikes at the end which can only be used for protection, right? Well were still not sure what these scutes are for, one theory says that they could be used for protection like the armor on an ankylosaurus. Another says that, like the spinosaurus, they could be used to absorb heat in the morning sun to get its blood warm, remember, dinosaurs belong to the class reptilia, so their body temperature would be regulated by their surroundings, or like this theory says, by the sun. Contrary to popular belief, Stegosaurus would never be seen fighting back against a T-Rex, they lived millions of years apart, a larger interval exists between its existence and a T-rex's than a T-rex's and our existence. This is the case with so many species of dinosaurs that are often depicted to have lived at the same time when in reality, they are separated by millions of years. It is noteworthy to point out that the stegosaurus once was thought to have had a second brain in a cavity in its tale which would be responsible for moving the back of the animal. Now there exists more evidence it is in fact not a second brain, although is one of the findings that supports the idea that a larger animal, especially a warm-blooded one, requires a more powerful brain in order to simply move. This can also be seen as evidence that dinosaurs could not have been warm-blooded, a lot of arguing has been made over whether or not dinosaurs are cold or warm blooded, this I will talk more of later.