A Stegosaurus is an herbivore with an interesting outfit. With plates down its spine and a spikey tail, the Stegosaurus was, as Sophy Henn refers in her book, “Lifesize Dinosaurs,” quite a snazzy creature. But with a miniscule brain, what was this dinosaur banking on by devoting its armor to such a curious getup?

After contemplating carnivores, I think Stegosaurus’ back plates would deter antagonists from biting down on its spine. The plates would make it difficult to sever the spine, and any dinosaur that realized it would have to find another way to attack would be met with a spikey thagomizer swaying from side to side. But for a dinosaur to base its whole defensive plan on an active counterstrike, maybe it didn’t work out so well for Stegosaurus.

My theorizing leads me to believe that Stegosaurus was a bit of a dead end on the evolutionary track. Perhaps there are enough fossils to be discovered because they were witless and reactionary- based on their physiology- and therefore an easy target. But then again, if it had other things going in its favor like environment or symbiosis, maybe it’s true that “life finds a way” to carry on through a good chunk of the reign of the dinosaurs and earn a spot in the movies of today.

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