RE: Plate arrangement on Stegosaurus Stenops

[pharrinj@PLU.edu]

On Wed, 10 Jan 1996, Dan Lipkowitz wrote:

> I was allowed to take a quick peek at the dinosaur hall-in-progress at the
> Denver Museum the summer before last, and the new mount there definitely
> shows two staggered rows of plates (17 of them, I believe). The tail spikes
> were oriented horizontally with a slight caudal pitch. The "basket" of throat
> armor was also mounted, and they were working on the dermal scutes (I'm not
> positive where along the flanks these were to be placed).  I was informed
> by the preparators that the specimen was found in a condition which verified
> this arrangement (I certainly hope so, since I based the _S. stenops_ on my
> dinosaur placemat on this mount), and I've noticed that subsequent stegosaur
> displays (e.g. the juvenile model at the AMNH) have been influenced by the
> Denver specimen.
> 
>   Dan Lipkowitz
> 

So this new specimen is a _stenops_?  Is anyone out there currently 
working on figuring out just what that species is?  I'm personally quite 
convinced it's not _Stegosaurus_.  It probably isn't _Diracodon_, either, 
considering that the type material of that genus is probably not diagnostic.

     Nick Pharris
     Pacific Lutheran University
     Tacoma, WA