176 EXTINCT MONSTERS 



In the year 1877 Professor Marsh described, in the American 

 Journal of Science, a considerable portion of a skeleton of a 

 Stegosaur, remarking that this genus proved to be one of the 

 most remarkable animals yet discovered. It was found on the 

 eastern flank of the Eocky Mountains, in strata of Jurassic age ; 

 the bones indicated an animal about twenty-five feet long, and for 

 this discovery Science is indebted to Professor A. Lakes and 

 Engineer H. C. Beckwith of the United States Navy, who found 

 the remains in Colorado, near the locality of the gigantic Atlanto- 

 saurus. The solid limb-bones seem to point to an aquatic life, 

 but there can be little doubt that the monster did not pass all 

 its time in the water. (Fig. 61 shows the skeleton.) 



In 1879 Professor Marsh announced the discovery of additional 

 remains from several localities. The most striking feature from 

 which the Stegosaur takes its name was the presence of huge 

 bony plates belonging to its skin, as well as large and small 

 spines. Some of the plates were from two to three feet in 

 diameter, and they were of various shapes. Of the spines, some 

 were of great size and power, one pair being each over two feet 

 long ! The skull was remarkably small, and more like that of a 

 lizard than we find in most Dinosaurs ; the jaws were short and 

 massive. Little was known at first of the brain, but fortunately 

 a later discovery showed the brain-case well preserved. Later 

 still, more than twenty other specimens of the Dinosaur were 

 obtained, so that nearly every portion of the skeleton is now 

 known. The skulls indicate that the creature possessed large 

 eyes and a considerable power of smell. The jaws contain but 

 a single row of teeth in actual use ; but as these wore out, they 

 were replaced by others lodged in a cavity below. Teeth, how- 

 ever, were not its strong point; they indicate a diet of soft 

 succulent vegetation. The vertebrae have the ends of their 



