STL Science Center

STL Science Center

13 January 2014

Scissors of Doom


Granted the clip I promised on Saturday has nothing to do with Sauropelta itself as a dinosaur, it does exhibit that potential scissor action of the dermal spikes of the tail. The action of the tail may be a little more derived than Sauropelta may have been capable of; however, it is hypothesis that may have some anatomical and physiological support behind it. To see the exact action in play fast forward that clip to 2:20, but remember, the dinosaur depicted had larger scutes and spikes on the tail, so Sauropelta would not have had as much leverage or reach with the scissor action. Sauropelta itself has not been tackled in any major documentaries that have been released or are available online. That, as always, is unfortunate. Early nodosaurs do not garner as much attention as their larger descendants and cousins, and are often left out of documentaries as a result. If anyone knows of a good clip that I did not know of and share, please share it with us!

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