Stegosaurus Tail Spike and Spine Plate

$90.00

Today, it is generally agreed that their spiked tails were most likely used for defense against predators, while their plates may have been used primarily for display, and secondarily for thermoregulatory functions.

Description

Stegosaurus Tail Spike and Spine Plate Replica measures 14×8 inches, Spike 20 inches. Museum quality polyurethane resins are made in the USA. Our precise replicas can be used as a teaching tool, museum exhibit, home décor, or office décor. Cast from the armored dinosaur found in the Jurassic Morrison Formation, Cleveland Lloyd Quarry, Utah.

Stegosaurus or Hypsirhophus were large, heavily built, herbivorous quadrupeds with rounded backs, short fore limbs, long hind limbs, and tails held high in the air.

Due to their distinctive combination of broad, upright plates and tail tipped with spikes, Stegosaurus or Hypsirhophus is one of the most recognizable kinds of dinosaurs. The function of this array of plates and spikes has been the subject of much speculation among scientists.

Today, it is generally agreed that their spiked tails were most likely used for defense against predators, while their plates may have been used primarily for display, and secondarily for thermoregulatory functions. Stegosaurus or Hypsirhophus had a relatively low brain to body mass ratio. It had a short neck and a small head, meaning it most likely ate low-lying bushes and shrubs.

The long and narrow skull was small in proportion to the body. Stegosaurus or Hypsirhophus had a small antorbital fenestra, the hole between the nose and eye common to most archosaurs, including modern birds, though lost in extant crocodylians.

The skull’s low position suggests that Stegosaurus may have been a browser of low-growing vegetation. This interpretation is supported by the absence of front teeth and their likely replacement by a horny beak or rhamphotheca.

Stegosaurus or Hypsirhophus lower jaw had flat downward and upward extensions that would have completely hidden the teeth when viewed from the side, and these probably supported a turtle like beak in life. The presence of a beak extended along much of the jaws may have precluded the presence of cheeks in these species.

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Additional information

Weight 3 lbs
Stegosaurus Plates

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Order: †Ornithischia
Suborder: †Stegosauria
Family: †Stegosauridae
Subfamily: †Stegosaurinae
Genus: †Stegosaurus
Type species: †Stegosaurus stenops
Conservation Status: Extinct