Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T18:04:51.608Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Growth and function of Stegosaurus plates: evidence from bone histology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

V. de Buffrénil ,
J. O. Farlow  and
A. de Ricqlès
V. de Buffrénil
Affiliation:
Laboratoire d'Anatomie Comparée, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 55, rue de Buffon, 75005 Paris, France; and Laboratoire d'Anatomie Comparée, Equipe de Recherche “Formations Squelettiques,” Université Paris VII, 2, place Jussieu, 75251 Paris 05, France
J. O. Farlow
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Indiana University–Purdue University at Fort Wayne, 2101 Coliseum Boulevard East, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46805
A. de Ricqlès
Affiliation:
Laboratoire d'Anatomie Comparée, Equipe de Recherche “Formations Squelettiques,” Université Paris VII, 2, place Jussieu, 75251 Paris 05, France
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Histological examination of Stegosaurus dorsal bony plates shows a thin wall of incompletely remodeled bone surrounding a large cancellous region containing some large “pipes” delineated by thin bony walls. Growth proceeded mainly from the basal region of the plates. Histological observations provide a test against which several functional interpretations of the plates are checked. While some interpretations (e.g., plates as armor) are clearly falsified, others (linked to thermoregulatory functions) seem to be more robust, although by no means can they be viewed as clearly vindicated on the basis of the evidence presently available.

Type
Articles
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , Fall 1986 , pp. 459 - 473
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Amprino, R. 1947. La structure du tissu osseux envisagee comme l'expression de differences dans la vitesse de l'accroissement. Arch. Biol. 58:315–330.Google Scholar
Bramwell, C. D. and Fellgett, P. B. 1973. Thermal regulation in sail lizards. Nature. 242:203–205.Google Scholar
Brinkman, D. L. and Conway, F. M. 1985. Textural and mineralogical analysis of a Stegosaurus (Reptilia: Ornithischia) plate. Compass (Sigma Gamma Epsilon). 63(1):1-5.Google Scholar
de Buffrénil, V., Farlow, J. O., and Ricqlès, A. J. de. 1984. Histological data on structure, growth and possible functions of Stegosaurus plates. Pp. 31–36. In: Reif, W. E. and Westphal, F., eds. Third Symposium on Mesozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems. Short papers; Tübingen.Google Scholar
Colbert, E. H. 1961. Dinosaurs, Their Discovery and Their World. Dutton; New York.Google Scholar
Colbert, E. H. 1981. A primitive ornithischian dinosaur from the Kayenta Formation of Arizona. Bull. Mus. N. Arizona. 53, 61 pp.Google Scholar
Colbert, E. H. 1983. Dinosaurs, an Illustrated History. Hammond; Maplewood, NJ.Google Scholar
Czerkas, S. in press. A re-evaluation of the plate arrangement on Stegosaurus stenops. In: Czerkas, S. and Olsen, E. C., eds. Dinosaurs Past and Present. Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History; Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Davitashvili, L. S. 1961. Teoriya Polovogo Otbora (The theory of sexual selection). Izdatel'stvo Akad. Nauk (Acad. Sci.); Moscow.Google Scholar
Dodson, P., Behrensmeyer, A. K., Bakker, R. T., and McIntosh, J. S. 1980. Taphonomy and paleoecology of the dinosaur beds of the Jurassic Morrison Formation. Paleobiology. 6:208–232.Google Scholar
Editors of Time-Life Books. 1972. Life before Man. Time-Life Books; New York.Google Scholar
Enlow, D. H. 1963. Principles of Bone Remodeling. C. C. Thomas, publ.; Springfield, IL.Google Scholar
Enlow, D. H. 1969. The bones of reptiles. Pp. 45–80. In: Gans, C. and Bellairs, A. d'A., eds. Biology of the Reptilia I. Academic Press; London.Google Scholar
Farlow, J. O. 1985. Introduction and annotations to R. T. Bird, Bones for Barnum Brown: Adventures of a Dinosaur Hunter, edited by Schreiber, V. T.Texas Christian Univ. Press; Fort Worth, Texas.Google Scholar
Farlow, J. O., Thompson, C. V., and Rosner, D. E. 1976. Plates of the dinosaur Stegosaurus: forced convection heat loss fins? Science. 192:1123–1125.Google Scholar
Galton, P. M. 1982. Juveniles of the stegosaurian dinosaur Stegosaurus from the Upper Jurassic of North America. J. Vert. Paleontol. 2(1):47-62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilmore, C. W. 1914. Osteology of the armoured Dinosauria in the United States National Museum, with special reference to the genus Stegosaurus. Smiths. Instit. U.S. Natl. Mus. Bull. 39; Washington, 1914.Google Scholar
Gould, S. J. 1974. The evolutionary significance of “bizarre” structures: antler size and skull size in the “Irish Elk,” Megaceros giganteus. Evolution. 28:191–220.Google Scholar
Gould, S. J. and Lewontin, R. C. 1979. The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptationist program. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B 205:581–598.Google Scholar
Halstead, L. B. 1975. The Evolution and Ecology of the Dinosaurs. Peter Lowe, publ.; London.Google Scholar
Hopson, J. A. 1977. Relative brain size and behavior in archosaurian reptiles. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 8:429–448.Google Scholar
Hotton, N. III. 1963. Dinosaurs. Pyramid Publications; New York.Google Scholar
Norman, D. 1985. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs. Crescent Books; New York.Google Scholar
Ostrom, J. H. and McIntosh, J. S. 1966. Marsh's Dinosaurs. Yale University Press; New Haven.Google Scholar
Reid, R. E. M. 1984. The biology of the dinosaurian bone, and its possible bearing on dinosaurian physiology. Pp. 629–663. In: Fergusson, M. W. J., ed. Zool. Sympos. n° 52, The Structure, Development and Evolution of Reptiles. Academic Press; London.Google Scholar
Ricqlès, A. J. de. 1974. Recherches paléohistologiques sur les os longs des Tétrapodes. IV: Eotheriodontes et Pélycosaures. Ann. Paleontol. (Vert.). 60:1–40.Google Scholar
Ricqlès, A. J. de. 1975. Recherches paléohistologiques sur les os longs des Tétrapodes. VII: Sur la classification, la signification fonctionnelle et l'histoire des tissus osseux des Tétrapodes. Première partie: structures. Ann. Paléont. (Vert.). 611:49–129.Google Scholar
Ricqlès, A. J. de. 1980. Tissue structure of dinosaur bone: functional significance and possible relation to dinosaur physiology. Pp. 103–139. In: Thomas, R. D. K. and Olsen, E. C., eds. A Cold Look at the Warm-Blooded Dinosaurs. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci. Symp. 28, Westview; Boulder, CO.Google Scholar
Ricqlès, A. J. de. 1983. Cyclical growth in the long limb bones of a sauropod dinosaur. In: 2nd. Sympos. Mesozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems; Jadwisin, 1981; Acta Paleontol. Pol. 28(1–2):225–232.Google Scholar
Ricqlès, A. J. de. 1984. Paleoistologia dei Dinosauri. Pp. 146–162. In: Sulle Orme dei Dinosauri. Ser. “Esplorazioni e ricerche.” Vol. IX. Erizzo; Venice.Google Scholar
Ricqlès, A. J. de and Bolt, J. R. 1983. Jaw growth and tooth replacement in Captorhinus aguti (Reptilia: Captorhinomorpha): a morphological and histological analysis. J. Vert. Paleontol. 3:7–24.Google Scholar
Romer, A. S. 1966. Vertebrate Paleontology, 3rd ed. Univ. Chicago Press; Chicago.Google Scholar
Seitel, M. R. 1979. The osteoderms of the American alligator and their functional significance. Herpetologica. 35(4):375-380.Google Scholar
Spotila, J. R. 1980. Constraints of body size and environment on the temperature regulation of dinosaurs. Pp. 233–252. In: Thomas, R. D. K. and Olsen, E. C., eds. A Cold Look at the Warm-Blooded Dinosaurs. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci. Symp. 28. Westview; Boulder, CO.Google Scholar
Thomas, R. D. K. and Olson, E. C., eds. 1980. A Cold Look at the Warm-Blooded Dinosaurs. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci. Symp. 28. Westview; Boulder, CO.Google Scholar
Zylberberg, L. and Castanet, J. 1985. New data on the structure and growth of the osteoderms in the reptile Anguis fragilis L. (Anguidae, Squamata). J. Morphol. 186:327–342.Google Scholar