How did plant-eaters fight back? 42 Did body armor really help? 44 Were frills defensive? 46 How did dinosaurs escape danger? 48
How did plant-eaters fight back?
T o defend themlves against predators, the different plant-eating dinosaurs developed an impressive armory of weapons. The ankylosaur Euoplocephalus had a ball of thickened bone at the end of its tail, which it could swing at attackers. The stegosaurs had tails studded with daggerlike spikes for stabbing attackers, while the sauropods’ size was their main defen. Some dinosaurs had features that puzzle paleontologists, becau it is unclear whether they were weapons or merely tools for feeding.
Huayangosaurus
Muscular tail
Short and broad three-toed feet
Long neck
Which dinosaurs had
a display of spikes?was an early stegosaur, living some 20 million years before . It may have ud its tail spikes to deter attack from larger carnivores.
Q Could a sauropod
crush an attacker?
A big sauropod, such as Barosaurus ,
had one decisive weapon against even the largest theropods—sheer weight. Its 20-ton body could easily crush the bones and suck the air from the lungs of a 3-ton Allosaurus . Barosaurus may have resorted to crushing attackers in extreme circumstances, such as to protect its young.
陪我长大的愿望
A Q Thickened bone
Barosaurus
Strong, thin tail
Allosaurus
Euoplocephalus
Pointed scutes (bony plates) ran in rows
43
Flexible armored
bands
Toothless
beak动漫男神头像
Which was the
spikiest dinosaur?Kentrosaurus lizard,” was certainly one of the spikiest. It was an East African stegosaur, which measured about 16 ft (5 m) long. Pairs of bone plates protected its neck, shoulders, and back. Six pairs of spikes—each of which was up to 2 ft (60 cm) in
length—adorned its lower back and tail. Kentrosaurus to fend off theropods, such as A Q How uful were
massive claws?
Therizinosaurus had three huge,
lethal-looking claws on each hand. However, some experts think the claws were too blunt to be ud as weapons. Instead, they may have been ud for feeding—to pluck foliage from trees or to rip open the nests of
termites. If so, how this dinosaur defended itlf remains a mystery.
Which dinosaur had
a thum
b spike?
Iguanodon was a large herbivore
without spines, plates, or claws. Its only defensive weapon was a single long spike on each thumb. Paleontologists believe this dinosaur may have jabbed at attacking theropods with the spike. Iguanodon had unusually flexible hands and was able to grasp food in its fingers.
A Q Therizinosaurus
Iguanodon
Kentrosaurus
粮食手抄报Protective spikes
Thumb spike up to 6 in (15 cm) in
length
More Facts
may have flicked its long tail like a whip, causing rious Dinosaur fossils often show evidence of fighting in the form of broken bones.Like some dinosaurs, modern iguanas have a row of spikes on their necks and Sturdy legs
名人的名言Blunt nails
Did body armor
really help?
Many dinosaurs had some protective armor, but the ankylosaurs were the most heavily armored of all. Some were covered in a mosaic of bony plates and studs, and many
bristled with spines and spikes, too. Only their bellies were unprotected, and ankylosaurs may have crouched to avoid exposing them when attacked. It would have taken a hungry theropod to tackle spiky Gastonia , which may have responded by driving its shoulder spines into its attacker’s leg.
44
Edmontonia
Broad, flat spikes
Neck scutes
Horny, toothless beak
What was the armor
生活的滋味
made of?
The flat plates embedded in the
skin of the ankylosaurs are known as scutes by paleontologists. The ankylosaurs’ armor of scutes, studs, and spikes was made of hardened bone, sometimes covered in horn. Edmontonia had scutes around its shoulders and along its tail, as well as triangular spikes on its back.
A Q Gastonia
Curved dorsal spines
45
Powerful legs
skin on the backs and tails of some of the ankylosaurs was virtually bullet-proof—and certainly tooth-proof. The big scutes, smaller irregular plates, and the hexagonal plates interlocked to make the skin so tough and light that experts have likened it to fiberglass.
More Facts
protected they even had bony eyelids.Dinosaur remains were first found in Antarctica in 1986, with the discovery of the bulky ankylosaur Antarctopelta .Pphoderma was a marine reptile. Its body was covered in heavy
hexagonal plates, like a modern turtle.
泪流满面的图片
What was a nasal boss?
One of the horned dinosaurs, Pachyrhinosaurus , has a name that
means “thick-nod lizard.” On its no—where its cousins had a sharp horn—Pachyrhinosaurus had a big bony knob. This their nasal boss as weapons.
A Q Which dinosaur is
beast. It had a dome-shaped head edged with horny bumps, and veral short bony spikes on its no. The dome was made of solid bone, which was a whopping Q relied on their size to defend themlves, bony scutes, and much smaller lumps toughened the skin all over its body.
Pachyrhinosaurus
Pachycephalosaurus
Pphoderma崔健歌曲
Saltasaurus
Hard head
Shorter neck than other sauropods
Smaller lumps
Bony scutes
Lump of thick bone
Heavy tail
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