Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1916-01-28
WAS NOT LAP PET
Scientist Constructs a Model OF
the Stegosaurus.
interesting Creature Weighed About
$1,000 Pounds and Roamed the
Earth and Scared Folks Some
Millions Of Years Ago.

Washington.-How happy must have
been the lot of the prehistoric man.
How fateful the 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 1t to It's pristine state OF
several hundred millions of years ago,
so that one returning home with an
imagination too vivid may see 1t walk
ing down Pennsylvania venue.
investigations conducted by the
section of fossil reptiles of the Ma
tional museum concerning the giant
fossil reptile known as h 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 we're 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 neal
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 restorations of the
s-tegosaurus 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 its probable
appearance in the flesh, and especially
as to the arrangement of the skin or
dermal armor, which forms such a
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.
In general appearance this rather
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 n sides
of its head and neck with bony knobs
which were in effect not unlike armor
plate, or. at least, rivet heads. Elk.
tending from its small. lizardlike head
along its back and we'll toward its
long. tapering tail we're great sharp
edged plates arranged alternately in
a double row. It's legs and feet were
eimilar to those of the alligators and
c%rocodiles of our age. but the foreleg'
were much smaller and weaker thar
the hind ones, due to it's heritage from
some ancestor who walked on its hinC
legs. II seems to have possessed very
little brain, and 1t may have peer fol
this reason that ii was so we'll protect
ed by armor.
Mr.. Gilmore's ideas concerning thil
animals appearance. especially in re
gard to the alternate arrangement o
its back plates, have been found L
agree with those expressed by DR.
F. A. Lucas Of the American Museum
Of Natural history. Each arrived a
his conclusions independently of tn
other.
The new model shows the head o
the stegOsaurus lowered considerably
as II he were In the act OF feeding Of
the ground. where he is known to hav
secured his food. being a plant eater
TO Judge from his teeth. and i~ncapabl
OF reaching lofty and elevated hert
age. in this position he presents a Gu
rious appearance. not unlike a rougI
section from a circular saw. for hi
back from head 10 tail curves dow
ward in each direction from his hipi
At this time the character OF tn
skin covering Of this animal is who'll
conjectural. but from what is know
Of the skin Of some Of the member
OF the horned and ~dnck-billed din,
aaurs II is not unreasonable TO belieV
that the s~tegosRurus' hide was scali
AL III 49,. .-a