Facts
There is so much more to learn about the Stegosaurus. For example, did you know that an elephant, which is about the same size, has a brain roughly 50 times heavier than a Stegosaurus? Stegosaurus is also specifically significant to Colorado because its fossil represents the state! Around 100 Stegosaurus remains so far have been discovered in the Morrison Formation. These remains can be found all over in different national museums. We highly suggest you visit these museums to get a first hand view of the dinosaurs and explore more about the size and shape of the beloved Stegosaurus. What can be even more interesting than the skeleton of these dinosaurs is the unique scales that cover their skin.
Stegosaurus skin has been found to be mostly pentagonal shaped. However, some other shapes are mixed in as well (hexagonal or quadrilateral to be more specific). Xing et al. found there are large scales in the skin that are surrounded with a group of smaller scales scattered around these large one; the large scales in the center tended to be hexagonal or pentagonal. They also suggest the unsmooth and rough texture of the skin may have played a role in reflecting light (2008).
Why did we pick to study this organism?
We were assigned this organism for this project and decided to stick with it because we thought it would be interesting to find out more information about an extinct species. Other than digging up old dinosaur bones, humans have no interaction with the Stegosaurus at all, so we thought it would be fascinating to research an organism that had once roamed out planet. Hopeully other people will find the Stegosaurus appealing to study too because, after all, who would not want to know more about Spike from The Land Before Time?
If you find this interesting, look at some amazing pictures in our Gallery!
References
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MultipleOrganisms.net
UW-LaCrosse