![]() ![]() ![]() Furthermore, it is puzzling why other stegosaurs and other dinosaurs lacked elaborate thermoregulatory structures. These variations cast doubt on the hypothesis of a strong thermoregulatory function for the plates of Stegosaurus, because such structures were not optimized in all stegosaurs for collecting or releasing heat. Plating among different stegosaurs varied: some forms apparently had parallel rather than alternating plates, and some, such as Kentrurosaurus, had plates along the front half of the back and spikes along the back half and tail. Stegosaurs lost the armour from the flanks of the body that these early relatives had. Both groups evolved from a lineage of smaller armoured dinosaurs such as Scutellosaurus and Scelidosaurus of the Early Jurassic Period (206 million to 180 million years ago). Stegosaurus and its relatives are closely related to the ankylosaurs, with which they share not only dermal armour but several other features, including a simple curved row of small teeth. It is more likely, however, that much of the sacral cavity was used for storing glycogen, as is the case in many present-day animals. The spinal cord in the region of the sacrum was enlarged and was actually larger than the brain, a fact that gave rise to the misconception that Stegosaurus possessed two brains. These are presumed to have served as defensive weapons, but they may have been ornamental. Two pairs of pointed bony spikes were present on the end of the tail. This hypothesis proposes that the plates acted as radiators, releasing body heat to a cooler ambient environment conversely, the plates could also have collected heat by being faced toward the sun like living solar panels. Because the plates contained many blood vessels, the alternating placement appears consistent with a hypothesis of thermoregulation. However, new discoveries and reexamination of existing Stegosaurus specimens since the 1970s suggest that the plates alternated along the backbone, as no two plates from the same animal have exactly the same shape or size. Paleontologists had long thought that Stegosaurus had two parallel rows of plates, either staggered or paired, and that these afforded protection to the animal’s backbone and spinal cord. Various hypotheses have attempted to explain the arrangement and use of the plates. SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!.Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them! Saving Earth Britannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century.Britannica Beyond We’ve created a new place where questions are at the center of learning. ![]() 100 Women Britannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians. Stegosaurus prehistoric kingdom how to#
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