Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1916-02-18
WAS NOT A LAP PET
Scientist Constructs a Model OF
the StegosauruS.
Interesting Creature Weighed About
5000 Pounds and Roamed the
Earth and Scared Folks Some
Millions of Years Ago.

Washington.-Howh happy must have
been the lot of the prehistoric man.
How fateful the moment when he
herded his wife and children in their
cave, barred the door" and sharpened
his stone ak to resist the attack of that
pretty creature weighing some $4,000
pounds, the stegosaurus. or plated liz
ard, which, luckily, exists now only In
fragments in deep-buried fossils.
The Smithsonian institution, which
takes the deepest delight in fossils,
has been studying the stegosaurus and
restoring it to it's pristine state OF
several hundred millions of years ago,
so that one returning home with an
Imagination too vivid may see it walk
ing down Pennsylvania avenue.
investigations conducted by the
section of fossil reptiles of the Ma
tional museum concerning the giant
fossil reptile known as the stegosau-
rus, or plated lizard, reveal many in
teresting facts hitherto unestablished
definitely" according to a statement
issued by the Smithsonian institution.
1T is now known that two rows of
great dermal armor plates along the
monsters back alternated like cross
cut saw teeth and were not paired;
that the largest one was above the
base of the tail and not over the hips,
as previously supposed; that there
were only Is of these plates; that
there were but four sharp spines near
the end of its tail, and many other
important details relating to the gen.
eral appearance of this great reptile
which lived about eight million years
ago and weighed nearly fifteen thou
sand pounds"
In a recent publication by DR..
Charles w. Gilmore, assistant curator,
it is stated that there were reproduced
ten pictures Of reservations of the
stegosaurus as depicted by various au-
thorities between the years 1891 and
1912. They show a variety and are
of interest as exhibiting the diverse
opinions held regarding it's probable
appearance in the flesh, and especially
as to the arrangement of the skin or
dermal armor, which forms such
conspicuous feature of the external an
atomy of this curious reptile. In view
of this, Mr.. Gilmore prepared a model
of the stegosaurus one-twelfth of the
linear dimensions of the type-speci-
men now on exhibition in the museum
and issued another pamphlet describ-
ing 1t.
early reptile was a monster standing
nearly nine feet high at his hips, and
about fifteen feet long. He probably
was covered with a tough, hornlike
hide, REINFORCED on the top and sides
of its head and neck with bony knobs
which were in effect not unlike armor
plate, or, at least, rivet heads. Ex-
tending from it's small, lizardlike head
along its back and well toward its
long, tapering tail were great sharp
a double row. Its legs and feet were
similar to those of the alligators and
crocodiles of our age, but the forelegs
were much smaller and weaker than
the hind ones, due to it's heritage from
some ancestor who walked on it's hind
legs. 1t seems to have possessed very
little brain, and it may have been for
this reason that it was so well protect
ed by armor.
Mr.. Gilmore's ideas concerning this
animals appearance, especially in re-
gard to the alternate arrangement of
its back plates, have been found to
agree with those expressed by DR..
F. A. Lucas of the American Museum
of Natural history. Each arrived at
his conclusions independently of the
other.
The new model shows the head of
the stegosaurus lowered considerably,
as if he were in the act of feeding on
the ground, where he Is known to have
secured his food. being a plant eater.
to Judge from his teeth, and incapable
of reaching lofty and elevated herb
age. In this position he presents a Gu
rious appearance, not unlike a rough
section from a circular saw. for his
back from head to tail curves down.
ward in each direction from his hips.
At this time the character of the
skin covering of this animal is wholly
conjectural. but from what is known
Of the skin Of some Of the members
Of the horned and duck-billed dino
saurs it is not unreasonable to believe
that the stegosaurus' hide was scale
like. with numerous bony knobs or