CERATOSAURUS
nasicornis
TIME
- 156 - 145 MYA, Late Jurassic period.
RANGE
- USA Colorado, Utah, Wyoming
Africa - Tanzania (Mtwara).
DIET
- Carnivore (meat eater)
SIZE -
Up to 20ft (6m) long.
WEIGHT
- 1 US ton.
STEGOSAURUS armatus
Stegosaurus was an ornithischian dinosaur, belonging to the groups
Thyreophora and Stegosauridae. It was the largest stegosaur and one of the
last of them. This well known dinosaur was a plant eater, it probably ate plants no
taller than about three feet (1 m), mostly ferns, cycads and conifers. It is
still debated, whether it actually could reared up on its hind limbs to get
higher vegetation. Stegosaurus lived in vast flooded areas and forests,
climate was warm and moist. Stegosaurus, the name of which means "armored roofed lizard", was a
large, heavy limbed, long tailed and short legged dinosaur. It walked on all
four legs, but it could not coordinate the movements of such a long body.
Its rear legs were twice as long as its front legs. Hind limbs had three
toes, fore limbs had five toes. Its head was extremely small in
relation to its long body. It had a toothless beak and small cheek teeth.
Two rows of triangular shaped plates ran the course of its back, leading to its long tail, which displayed four long spikes. Its largest
plates were over two feet (60 cm) high and wide (the largest plate was 2,5
feet/76 cm high and 79 cm long). Recent excavations indicate, that the
plates were in two alternating rows. The plates are now thought by many to
help control body temperature, but they could also have been used for
display. The tail spikes were hold horizontally, they were probably weapons
of defense. The other weapon of Stegosaurus probably was armor-like scutes
(small osicles) on the skin of the throat and the hips.
TIME
- 156 - 145 MYA, Late Jurassic period.
RANGE
- Wyoming, Utah, Colorado.
DIET
- Herbivorous (plants)
SIZE
- 25ft (7 m) long.
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