More dinosaur ponderings
I was looking at a toy stegosaurus of my son's. And I was thinking about how those plates on their backs are supposed to be for warming up the animal.
I used to own a fairly large iguana. I had a rabbit leash that I would put on him and take him outside. My iguana was green, but he had limited color-change capability. When he was scared, for instance, he would turn a bright lime-green. But when he was basking, such as when I'd take him outside, his green would turn very dark and become tinted with orange in some spots. He'd sit with his belly pressed against the warm surface (usually the sidewalk), spread out his limbs, and sit there and look around with his semi-sarcastic lizard expression.
Ever notice how ironic lizards look? Like the whole world's a joke and only they get it.
Anyway, apply these silly musings to a stegosaurus. Or a bunch of stegosaurs. All ranged out on a hillside with their plates at maximum height to catch the morning sun, all hanging out and looking sarcastic.
Could stegosaurs move their plates up and down? I assumed they could, seeing as the plates weren't attached to their bones, just their skin and muscle. It'd help with the whole basking deal.
And maybe they could lighten and darken their colors, too, like my iguana.
I used to own a fairly large iguana. I had a rabbit leash that I would put on him and take him outside. My iguana was green, but he had limited color-change capability. When he was scared, for instance, he would turn a bright lime-green. But when he was basking, such as when I'd take him outside, his green would turn very dark and become tinted with orange in some spots. He'd sit with his belly pressed against the warm surface (usually the sidewalk), spread out his limbs, and sit there and look around with his semi-sarcastic lizard expression.
Ever notice how ironic lizards look? Like the whole world's a joke and only they get it.
Anyway, apply these silly musings to a stegosaurus. Or a bunch of stegosaurs. All ranged out on a hillside with their plates at maximum height to catch the morning sun, all hanging out and looking sarcastic.
Could stegosaurs move their plates up and down? I assumed they could, seeing as the plates weren't attached to their bones, just their skin and muscle. It'd help with the whole basking deal.
And maybe they could lighten and darken their colors, too, like my iguana.