The stegosaurs were herbivorous, quadrupedal ornithischians with large
projecting plates down the back and heavy spikes on their tails. The
Jurassic dinosaur _Stegosaurus_ (Pl. 45) is most typical of the
plate-bearing forms. This creature weighed about 10 tons, was some 30
feet long, and stood about 10 feet tall at the hips. _Stegosaurus_ is
characterized by a double row of large, heavy, pointed plates which run
along the animal’s back. These plates begin at the back of the skull and
stop near the end of the tail. The tail was also equipped with four or
more long curved spikes which were probably used as a means of defense.
The animal had a very small skull which housed a brain that was about
the size of a walnut, and it is assumed that these, and all other
dinosaurs, were of very limited intelligence.
_Stegosaurus_ remains have not been discovered in Texas, but these, like
certain other of the extinct vertebrates, are mentioned because of their
interesting and unusual form.