Thagomizer is a fine name. It is whimsical and witty, and a clever incorporation of popular culture into the scientific argot rather than a scientific term becoming popular.
A lot of people here have been giving you tips or criticism, but I say just keep doing your thing man. This series is great and I appreciate your direct approach to scientific descriptions of these amazing animals. I really like the intros you do as well
Thanks a lot for creating & sharing this wonderful video about an animal I always loved! BTW around 10:20 you noted that the presence on Keratin on Stegosaurus' plates would have prevented them from displaying a blushing in case of an increased blood flow into these. Not necessarily. Keratin can be also transparent - just think of our fingernails and what a nice colorful display they can present if we aren't careful whilst working with a hammer :-)
Nice thinking. The study that examined the covering impression determined that the covering was too thick for changes in blood flow to be noticeable. Our nails are thin enough that you see the pink of the flesh underneath. The purple comes from blood pooling, rather than a change in colour due to blood flow, like if you were exercising. Stegosaurus is not my most watched video, but I know it’s a favourite for many.
An excellent video. I hope that one day a dwarf Stegosaurus, say three metres long, will be found with the thagomizer spikes half the length, when compared to the body and back plates twice the size, when compared to the body.
11:55 I wonder if the Thagomizer spikes could detach and regenerate like porcupine quills, or perhaps even carry a mild venom. It doesn't look like there's much structure holding the spikes to the skeleton.
Porcupine quills are basically very bristly hairs, and can regrow easily. A bone spike covered in keratin is not something to regrow. There are also no grooves to deliver venom, or pits for it to be stored.
No thyreophoran has been found with anything besides scales. Also the stegosaur with signs of keratin covering the plates had no sign of feathers. Feather-like attachments would have been unlikely.
damn you're videos are getting funnier and funnier... "known in the US from books and tv shows" ... yea.. books :D haven't had such a good laugh in a while, thanks mate
I really love Stegosaurus so much as a natural dinosaur and a very magnificent animal but I don’t understand why pop culture viewed it negatively because of the small brain.
I'd be interested to know if fossils have been found which reveal the stomach contents of any stegosaurus. Have palinologists found suites that reveal the diet?
As far as I know, the stomach contents of Stegosaurus have not been found. Stomachs and their contents rarely get preserved. Sometimes you get the last meal of a carnivore because some of the bone was ingested. Plants decompose very quickly, especially when it is being digested. It does happen, like with some dinosaur ‘mummies’, but you are more likely to find coprolites. These are fossilised facies. Common, but difficult to link to a specific animal.
Different Allosaurus. The injury that never healed belonged to an Allosaurus jimmadseni called Big Al that had a load of different healed injuries. The infection on the foot was what did him in.
Could the primary use for the Stegosaurus plates be not letting a predator to stay on it's back or do damage when up there? Since as long as said predator is on the ground, it can be hit by the thagomizer, perhaps repeatedly. For juveniles their presence wouldn't matter (too small).
Like many defensive theories, this would have better been served by the spikes used by other stegosaurs. Reducing attacks on the back might have been an aspect, but probably not the primary purpose of the plates. And while I argued myself into a conclusion in this video, the matter is far from settled.
@@palaeo_channel The plates don't have to be sharp, just get in the way, prevent the attacker from getting a good grip or keeping balance on top. The adaptation would need to be only good enough, perhaps leaving room for other uses that might take over. Although it's pure speculation from my part, have red just about nothing
Imagine he could let his spikes on the tail grow after slashing them into his enemys while holding the plates to the attacker asca bait, then slashing the attacker. It woukd be nearly impossible to beat. He choosed to fight instead of running
Carefully. One of the best ideas that I have heard is that Stegosaurus could lie down and get back up. Tricky, but lying on its side may have given a mate access.
For herbivores, why are tongues never talked or speculated? To me, the small mouths that some had, just beg for a tongue that would strip leaves and gather them into their mouths. Look at how giraffes feed, and some long-tongued antelope. Seems to me the peg like teeth of the sauropods would be great for clipping off vegetation brought to the mouth by a tongue. Stegosaurs look like they could have also used a nice long prehensile tongue to grab and gather leaves. Does anyone agree? Or, do we know, somehow, that they did not have useful tongues??
For sauropods, the wear on the teeth indicate that a tongue was not a significant part of their feeding habits. Their heads also had to be light enough not to place too much strain on their necks. A heavy muscular tongue would not help that. For animals like Stegosaurus, there is little to go on, as soft features like tongues do not fossilise. Strong tongues, though, normally appear in mammals that chew their food. In many dinosaurs, there is little work on tongues as it would be pure speculation.
@@palaeo_channel Sauropods had gastroliths. So they only need teeth for cutting. A tongue still could have been used. I don't think their tongue need be very muscular. Foliage was softer then, tree ferns, I believe. I don't see how wear patterns on cutting teeth would show anything about the use of a tongue. They were NOT mammals -- no chewing, hence very little wear.
@@craigkdillon While dinosaurs did not chew, their teeth were very well used. Diplodicids raked their teeth across stems to strip them of leaves and other sauropods snipped off conifer branches. Their teeth wore down fast, having to be replaced constantly, leaving plenty of wear.
@@palaeo_channel Interesting. I did not know that. However, seems to me that prehensile tongues would be useful. Since tongues don't fossilize -- how do they know they did not exist?
@@craigkdillon Tongues definitely existed and prehensile tongues may have. Some have been proposed (see Iguanodon), but you have to back up these claims with evidence. I am not saying that no dinosaur had a prehensile tongue, but convincing evidence has not been found yet.
@@boffutt87 I spelled Republican correctly. Democrats are modern and Progressive, unlike the obsolete uneducated Republicans. Democrats understand science, and why vaccines work. Republicans don't understand science, refuse to take vaccines, putting their trust in faith healers. Republicans are dying from COVID because they refuse the vaccine. But, that's OK. Fewer people wanting to destroy our Republic is OK with me.
@@boffutt87 Yeah, you are right. We just aren't as amused at an attempted coup and assassination of the Vice President, and Speaker of the House. We are just a bunch of killjoys, not seeing the humor in voter suppression, and the killing of immigrant children in our custody. I will have to work on seeing humor in Republicans.
@@craigkdillon not here for a political debate. Just made a joke. For what it's worth I'm a centrist and not a member of any party so if your trying to insult me or make me mad your barking up the wrong tree.
Thagomizer is a fine name. It is whimsical and witty, and a clever incorporation of popular culture into the scientific argot rather than a scientific term becoming popular.
Just watched your Allosaurus profile &, subscribed. Now this, what a doozy to watch in bed before sleep. Keep the great work up.
Honestly just commenting to help engagement, this is a great video.
Very well done on Stegosaurus. You show a lot of potential, as does the channel. You should expand to do all prehistoric animals, not just dinosaurs
I agree
A lot of people here have been giving you tips or criticism, but I say just keep doing your thing man. This series is great and I appreciate your direct approach to scientific descriptions of these amazing animals. I really like the intros you do as well
Thanks a lot for creating & sharing this wonderful video about an animal I always loved! BTW around 10:20 you noted that the presence on Keratin on Stegosaurus' plates would have prevented them from displaying a blushing in case of an increased blood flow into these. Not necessarily. Keratin can be also transparent - just think of our fingernails and what a nice colorful display they can present if we aren't careful whilst working with a hammer :-)
Nice thinking. The study that examined the covering impression determined that the covering was too thick for changes in blood flow to be noticeable. Our nails are thin enough that you see the pink of the flesh underneath. The purple comes from blood pooling, rather than a change in colour due to blood flow, like if you were exercising. Stegosaurus is not my most watched video, but I know it’s a favourite for many.
@@palaeo_channel Thank you for this additional info. Highly appreciated.
We also need to bow our heads for a moment of silence, for the late great Thag Simmons.
Thank you this is a very well made and informative video.
Top documentation.
Like yeah you could call it spikes or you could call it a thagomizer because its awesome
An excellent video.
I hope that one day a dwarf Stegosaurus, say three metres long, will be found with the thagomizer spikes half the length, when compared to the body and back plates twice the size, when compared to the body.
i can only repeat myself:
stegosaurus best saurus.
Gary Larson genius!
11:55 I wonder if the Thagomizer spikes could detach and regenerate like porcupine quills, or perhaps even carry a mild venom. It doesn't look like there's much structure holding the spikes to the skeleton.
Porcupine quills are basically very bristly hairs, and can regrow easily. A bone spike covered in keratin is not something to regrow. There are also no grooves to deliver venom, or pits for it to be stored.
I don’t know if this is a possibility but I’ve always wondered if the plates could serve as attachment points for something feather like.
No thyreophoran has been found with anything besides scales. Also the stegosaur with signs of keratin covering the plates had no sign of feathers. Feather-like attachments would have been unlikely.
👏👏👏👏👏
damn you're videos are getting funnier and funnier... "known in the US from books and tv shows" ... yea.. books :D haven't had such a good laugh in a while, thanks mate
What is wrong with books?
I really love Stegosaurus so much as a natural dinosaur and a very magnificent animal but I don’t understand why pop culture viewed it negatively because of the small brain.
Mosasaur profile would be nice please.
I'd be interested to know if fossils have been found which reveal the stomach contents of any stegosaurus. Have palinologists found suites that reveal the diet?
As far as I know, the stomach contents of Stegosaurus have not been found.
Stomachs and their contents rarely get preserved. Sometimes you get the last meal of a carnivore because some of the bone was ingested. Plants decompose very quickly, especially when it is being digested.
It does happen, like with some dinosaur ‘mummies’, but you are more likely to find coprolites. These are fossilised facies. Common, but difficult to link to a specific animal.
Got to say Allosaurus sounds interesting...
The T-rex of the Jurassic.
@@williamjordan5554 Not reallt,a fierce and unusually bold predator regardless.
Do Bajadasaurus
Is it true the Allosaurus fossil with the stegosaur thagomizer injury shows signs of an infection that never healed?
Different Allosaurus. The injury that never healed belonged to an Allosaurus jimmadseni called Big Al that had a load of different healed injuries. The infection on the foot was what did him in.
@@palaeo_channel cool
Could the primary use for the Stegosaurus plates be not letting a predator to stay on it's back or do damage when up there? Since as long as said predator is on the ground, it can be hit by the thagomizer, perhaps repeatedly. For juveniles their presence wouldn't matter (too small).
Like many defensive theories, this would have better been served by the spikes used by other stegosaurs.
Reducing attacks on the back might have been an aspect, but probably not the primary purpose of the plates.
And while I argued myself into a conclusion in this video, the matter is far from settled.
@@palaeo_channel The plates don't have to be sharp, just get in the way, prevent the attacker from getting a good grip or keeping balance on top. The adaptation would need to be only good enough, perhaps leaving room for other uses that might take over.
Although it's pure speculation from my part, have red just about nothing
Imagine he could let his spikes on the tail grow after slashing them into his enemys while holding the plates to the attacker asca bait, then slashing the attacker. It woukd be nearly impossible to beat. He choosed to fight instead of running
How did it breed?
Carefully.
One of the best ideas that I have heard is that Stegosaurus could lie down and get back up. Tricky, but lying on its side may have given a mate access.
Wait, so ungulatus is no longer valid?
S. ungulatus was looking shaky by 2015. Maidment’s research folded it into S. stenops, and analyses as recently as 2024 have confirmed this.
For herbivores, why are tongues never talked or speculated?
To me, the small mouths that some had, just beg for a tongue that would strip leaves and gather them into their mouths.
Look at how giraffes feed, and some long-tongued antelope.
Seems to me the peg like teeth of the sauropods would be great for clipping off vegetation brought to the mouth by a tongue.
Stegosaurs look like they could have also used a nice long prehensile tongue to grab and gather leaves.
Does anyone agree?
Or, do we know, somehow, that they did not have useful tongues??
For sauropods, the wear on the teeth indicate that a tongue was not a significant part of their feeding habits. Their heads also had to be light enough not to place too much strain on their necks. A heavy muscular tongue would not help that.
For animals like Stegosaurus, there is little to go on, as soft features like tongues do not fossilise. Strong tongues, though, normally appear in mammals that chew their food.
In many dinosaurs, there is little work on tongues as it would be pure speculation.
@@palaeo_channel Sauropods had gastroliths. So they only need teeth for cutting. A tongue still could have been used. I don't think their tongue need be very muscular. Foliage was softer then, tree ferns, I believe.
I don't see how wear patterns on cutting teeth would show anything about the use of a tongue.
They were NOT mammals -- no chewing, hence very little wear.
@@craigkdillon While dinosaurs did not chew, their teeth were very well used. Diplodicids raked their teeth across stems to strip them of leaves and other sauropods snipped off conifer branches. Their teeth wore down fast, having to be replaced constantly, leaving plenty of wear.
@@palaeo_channel Interesting. I did not know that. However, seems to me that prehensile tongues would be useful.
Since tongues don't fossilize -- how do they know they did not exist?
@@craigkdillon Tongues definitely existed and prehensile tongues may have. Some have been proposed (see Iguanodon), but you have to back up these claims with evidence.
I am not saying that no dinosaur had a prehensile tongue, but convincing evidence has not been found yet.
Camarasarus
Deadly herbivore...
🫀⚡🫀
Roadrunner rex! Out on the open desert chasing down herbivores that are eating sand and rock...talk about ridiculous!🤔
Scientific fact -- Stegosaurus had its brain in its ass.
Therefore,
Stegosaurus is an early example of a nascent species of Republican.
You spelled democrat wrong 🤣
@@boffutt87 I spelled Republican correctly.
Democrats are modern and Progressive, unlike the obsolete uneducated Republicans.
Democrats understand science, and why vaccines work.
Republicans don't understand science, refuse to take vaccines, putting their trust in faith healers.
Republicans are dying from COVID because they refuse the vaccine.
But, that's OK. Fewer people wanting to destroy our Republic is OK with me.
@@craigkdillon and you just proved that Democrats have no sense of humor.
@@boffutt87 Yeah, you are right.
We just aren't as amused at an attempted coup and assassination of the Vice President, and Speaker of the House.
We are just a bunch of killjoys, not seeing the humor in voter suppression, and the killing of immigrant children in our custody.
I will have to work on seeing humor in Republicans.
@@craigkdillon not here for a political debate. Just made a joke. For what it's worth I'm a centrist and not a member of any party so if your trying to insult me or make me mad your barking up the wrong tree.
So a history of identification mistakes...