The Stegosaurus

I know you are probably thinking…what is he doing? Ok…humor me today, please. 

I’m veering away from my usual subject of pop culture…but…you know what? Dinosaurs may fit into that category. Lately, I’ve been really getting into dinosaurs and I have watched a lot of programs about them like Walking With Dinosaurs and Planet Dinosaur which I would recommend both…and yes all the Jurassic Park/World films just to see them.

Dinosaurs were separated by both time and geography. The Age of Dinosaurs (the Mesozoic Era) included three consecutive geologic periods (the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods).

When I was in first grade, I learned about dinosaurs. We were all assigned one to make a Play-Doh model of, and I was assigned the Stegosaurus. Okay, it wasn’t the cool T-Rex or Spinosaurus but cool all the same. The Stegosaurus lived in the late Jurassic period. It was hunted not by the T-Rex but by the Allosaurus because it was in the same period. The T-Rex would come later in the late Cretaceous period. 

Allosaurus

Ok enough of the technical stuff…. what struck me about these beautiful animals were the dermal plates on the back with the killer spikes or thagomizers on its tail.

Stagomizer

They were deadly if they landed. They have found fossils with Allosaurus’s teeth marks in Stegosauruses but they have also found the huge thagomizer lodged in an Allosaurus. These spikes could get up to 3-4 feet long… if you were a carnivore you had to think twice about having a Stegosaurus for dinner. 

Here is an example of an Allosaurus meeting its match. 

It has been “my” dinosaur since first grade and they are one of the most recognizable dinosaurs. The biggest knock on this one is the small brain pan size so it wasn’t the brightest dino.  At one time it was thought they had two brains because they were so long but now they don’t think that. They were 30 ft long and 14 ft tall. In other words about as tall as a Giraffe and as long as a London Bus. If they ever brought dinosaurs back to life…this is the one I would like to see most. 

Thank you all for humoring me today. I may feature a dinosaur once in a while…kinda like an animal appreciation day. 

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

47 thoughts on “The Stegosaurus”

  2. Too weird. When I was near that age and had to write a report about a dinosaur, I, too, got the Stegosaurus. So it’s also “mine” (as is the Gila Monster). My current favorite is the Stuckasaurus, which I wrote about the other day.

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    1. I remember your post with the title “Stuckasaurus”…that could have subconsciously inspired me to do this.
      I’ve been binge watching all of these shows and it brought back memories of Mrs. Hall my first grade teacher and love of these animals… I like Gila Monsters….I see people have them on youtube reptile shows.

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  5. I’ve never really taken the time to read much about dinosaurs, so thanks for the lesson. Your mention of Gary Larson makes me nostalgic for The Far Side. What a great strip.

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    1. Oh that was a great strip! I loved that one and always had some around the office.
      Yea my love for dinosaurs was re-ignited again. Thanks for reading!

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  6. I am all for more dinosaur posts! I’m pretty sure every boy alive has gone through a dinosaur phase. And why not? They’re like modern animals, just bigger, scarier, deadlier… My favourite was the Pachycephalosaurus (the one with the really hard head). And the T Rex, obviously, but that one’s self-explanatory…

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    1. You like a herbivore as well. They could fracture bones on other dinosaurs… see I’ve been watching those BBC documentaries…they are really good.
      Of course we all like T-Rex….I really like the Spinosaurus as well. I so wish they could bring a few back!

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      2. Yea I know…but they spared no expense! Except on evil IT guys.
        Ok I had to look him up…he was a huge one! I always felt sorry for the huge ones with no defense… but I’ve read where if a T-Rex or whatever version they were facing tried to attack them…they could raise up and crush them with their front two legs.

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  9. When our sons were little, they were into dinos big time. Now they’re married with children and their kids are dino fans as well. Our oldest grandson (13) was a true dinosaur fanatic when he was little, bringing his bag of dinos everywhere he went. He still loves them but has moved on from little plastic dinos to a dinosaur chess set. I can’t tell one playing piece from the other! 🦖 🦕

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    1. My son went through a phase as well…I guess mine never ended. Oh that dinosaur chess set sounds really cool! Yea that would be a drawback.

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  10. Well they’ve become pop culture in our lifetime. I had to look up a chart to find the one I think was coolest looking, it’s the triceratops. If TV has taught us anything, it’s that they made good pets for stone age people and were convenient shortcuts from work to one’s car when the whistle blew…

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    1. Yea I would say they are as well in our pop culture…
      Oh I like the Triceratops as well! They were like the Stegosaurus…meat eaters had to think twice before messing with them!
      LOL….

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  11. Okay, Max. But did you know ‘they’ haven’t ever found one complete dinosaur fossil?!? I recently watched a documentary on it and heard that. Mind blowing! All museums have are resin replicas of theories, built upon the findings of a few bones. That’s why some even use the same skull! I don’t know why such a lie would need to be said and hoax perpetrated upon an unsuspecting public, but supposedly that’s what has happened. Even La brea tar pits have only found wooly mammoth bones, etc. Stuff we know that lived. No dino bones.
    I have loved dinosaurs since I was a little child, so it was yet another example of a narrative that may not be true—that dinosaurs existed. Ugh
    Great post anyway, Max!

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      1. Yeah, it was bubble bursting to me. But it was a subject of conversation around the Thanksgiving table this year and a Siri check confirmed it (that no complete fossil had ever been discovered). Wonder what else we will find out this year?!? At least, AI might reveal the lies. Ha! I wonder.

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  12. My grandson is dino crazy; just coming up to three and he’s teaching us what all the dino’s are named. He too has a bag of dinosaurs that don’t venture far from his grasp. Also Dinos on T shirts, dinos on play pants, here a Stego, there an Allo, everywhere a mass of sauruses.

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    1. That is a great thing. I wonder why they capture our imagination? I guess something that massive is just beyond our comprehension. I’ll be thinking looking out a window…what if a T-Rex came through our woods? Oh, Besides running and having to change my pants.
      As you see recently…I’m on your grandson’s wavelength…it all started with Jurassic Park.

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  14. Cool post, Max. God provides his creatures with defense mechanisms. Rabbits are the food of just about all but the smallest predators and they mate prolifically; still they have extremely good hearing, outrageous peripheral vision and quickness. It doesn’t surprise me that the Stegosaurus was equipped with these outrages spikes…it does interest me though.

    Thanks for the New Years shoutout, BTW.

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    1. You are right…he does…everything had some kind of defense…maybe not as apparent as the spikes but a defense all the same.
      No problem Pam! I’m glad you have come back.

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  18. Pingback: The Stegosaurus – MobsterTiger

    1. Oh yes…they are similiar…one with spikes and one with a heavy bone crushing hit.
      Oh I have a Bearded Dragon that resembles a tuatara….but the Tuatara is much older!

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    1. Yea usually I do pop culture but once in a blue moon…I like throwing a curve out there.
      I love those as well! They were like the Steg because you better think twice before you tried to make a meal out of them….both of them could kill you in a heartbeat.
      Thanks for stopping by!

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  21. Max my little granddaughter is into dinosaurs and I got her a dinosaur book for Christmas. She knows more of their names than I do! They’re fascinating to consider aren’t they. Watched Jurassic Park Dominion the other night and was thrilled all over again.

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    1. That is so cool about your granddaughter… they are magnets to kids…and to adults lol. I wanted to go in a different direction…it’s fun veering off the normal path…and at least I hit a subject that is fun.

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