Get to know Stegosaurus, a big dinosaur with a very small head

KOMPAS.com – Ever seen the picture dinosaur large body but very small head and has flat horns along the back and tail? It is stegosaurus. Read on for more details about this one dinosaur.

Stegosaurus lived in zaman Jurassic Late or about 159 to 144 million years ago. The physical characteristics of the stegosaurus are very distinctive, namely there are two rows of plate-shaped spines arranged along the back to the tail.

Adult Stegosaurus was 6.5 meters to 9 meters long. The size of the skull and brain is very small and not proportional to the size of the body. It also has forelegs that are shorter than the hind legs.

Stegosaur plate spines function

Many experts have hypothesized about the function of the plate -shaped spines possessed by stegosaurs. The strongest opinion is for self -protection, especially the spine.

In the 1970s, experts re-examined Stegosaurus specimens and found that each plate on a stegosaurus was a different size. In addition, this plate also contains blood vessels.

Therefore, the experts put forward a new hypothesis that the function of these spines is for thermoregulation. This plate is believed to be able to reduce the body heat of the stegosaurus to the surrounding environment.

Vice versa, this plate can capture heat to warm the stegosaurus body. This mechanism is run by facing the plate to the sun and works like a solar panel.

While the two sharp thorns located at the end of the tail are still believed to be a self-defense weapon for this plant-eating animal.

Also read: The Most Complete Triceratops Dinosaur Fossil Finds Reveal Its Life in the Past

Fossil stegosaurus

Paleontologists have discovered several times fossil stegosaurus. The first fossil of a stegosaurus was discovered in 1876 by MP Felch. This discovery succeeded in finding fossils of 80 stegosaurus tails in Colorado and Wyoming.

The next fossil discovery occurred in 2007 in Portugal. This discovery convinced experts that mainland Europe and North America formerly fused and became the home of stegosaurus.

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