About how big was Stegosaurus's brain?

About the size of a lemon or plum

What evidence shows Stegosaurus used its tail spikes in defense?

An Allosaurus bone pierced by a spike

What were Stegosaurus plates probably used for?

Display and possibly temperature control

Stegosaurus Quiz – How Much Do You Really Know?

Stegosaurus carried a row of tall plates along its back and a spiked tail nicknamed the thagomizer, after a Far Side cartoon, and this stegosaurus quiz explores the Jurassic giant. Learn about its tiny brain, its discovery in Colorado and how its tail spikes pierced Allosaurus bones.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Name
What does Stegosaurus mean?
Period
When did Stegosaurus live?
Brain
About how big was Stegosaurus's brain?
Thagomizer
Where does the name thagomizer come from?
Spikes
What evidence shows Stegosaurus used its tail spikes in defense?
Plates
What were Stegosaurus plates probably used for?
Colorado
Which US state has Stegosaurus as its state fossil?
Diet
What did Stegosaurus eat?
Second brain
Did Stegosaurus have a second brain in its hips?
Sophie
Which Stegosaurus skeleton is displayed in London?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What does Stegosaurus mean?
Answer: Roof lizard
Marsh thought plates lay flat like tiles.
Q2: When did Stegosaurus live?
Answer: Late Jurassic
About 155 to 150 million years ago.
Q3: About how big was Stegosaurus's brain?
Answer: About the size of a lemon or plum
It was small for its body.
Q4: Where does the name thagomizer come from?
Answer: A Far Side cartoon
Paleontologists adopted the joke.
Q5: What evidence shows Stegosaurus used its tail spikes in defense?
Answer: An Allosaurus bone pierced by a spike
The wound matches a spike.
Q6: What were Stegosaurus plates probably used for?
Answer: Display and possibly temperature control
They were not armor.
Q7: Which US state has Stegosaurus as its state fossil?
Answer: Colorado
Early fossils were found there.
Q8: What did Stegosaurus eat?
Answer: Low-growing plants
Its head was held near the ground.
Q9: Did Stegosaurus have a second brain in its hips?
Answer: No, it was a myth
The space likely held a glycogen body.
Q10: Which Stegosaurus skeleton is displayed in London?
Answer: Sophie
It is one of the most complete.

Stegosaurus Quiz – Plates and Spikes

Stegosaurus was a large plant-eating dinosaur that lived about 155 to 150 million years ago in the Late Jurassic of North America. It had two rows of tall plates along its back and four sharp spikes on its tail.

Othniel Marsh named it in 1877, thinking the plates lay flat like roof tiles. The plates were likely used for display and perhaps to help control body temperature. Its tail spikes, nicknamed the thagomizer after a Far Side cartoon, were powerful weapons.

Stegosaurus had a small brain for its size, and the old idea of a second brain in its hips is a myth. A well-preserved skeleton named Sophie is displayed at London's Natural History Museum, and Stegosaurus is Colorado's state fossil.

What This Quiz Teaches

Dinosaur fans and students will enjoy these questions.

What its name means
When it lived
How big its brain was
What the thagomizer is
What the plates did

Did You Know?

Stegosaurus was about 9 meters long.
Its front legs were shorter than its hind legs.
Relatives lived in China and Europe.
Its plates had blood vessels.
It lived alongside Allosaurus.