Re: stegosaur plate arrangement

["King, Norm" <nking.ucs@smtp.usi.edu>]

Jeff Poling wrote (01/10/96; 2:59p)

>At 02:21 PM 1/10/96 -0500, King, Norm wrote:
>>
>>My understanding is that the plates of the complete stegosaur unearthed 

>>at Garden Park, Colorado a few years ago by the Denver Museum of 
Natural 
>>History group, led by Ken Carpenter, were found in positions strongly 
>>suggesting that they were arrayed in two rows with staggered spacing, 
>>just like the classical image.  I believe that is how they have 
>>reconstructed it for the display in the Museum.  The underside of the 
>>neck was indeed covered with 100's of roughly coin-sized ossicles.  The 

>>tail spikes were buried in a way suggesting they were pointed more to 
the 
>>side than vertically.  Perhaps Ken, if he is listening, can provide a 
>>more reliable report.

>  Isn't this the "road kill" specimen?  Couldn't the horizontal spike
>placement be due to the carcass being flattened?

No, that one was found in the late 1800's, although it was from the same 
general area (near Can~on City, Colorado).  I believe that is the one 
that caused most people to finally accept the classical image of a double 
row with offset spacing.  The recent find was very well preseved, with 
bones little disturbed from life positions.  That's why it is so 
convincing.  However, someone from DMNH will have to tell you just what 
the orientational evidence was for the tail spikes.  I SORT OF remember, 
but in that situation had probably better keep my mouth shut.



*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Norman R. King                                       tel:  (812) 464-1794
Department of Geosciences                            fax:  (812) 464-1960
University of Southern Indiana
8600 University Blvd.
Evansville, IN 47712                      e-mail:  nking.ucs@smtp.usi.edu