Stegosaurus
by Abraham G.
My animal is a stegosaurus. It is a thyreophoran. It has rounded spikes, and it has a tail with spikes. Also it eats only plants. My animal lives on land. The Stegosaurus has a pelvis bone that stretches out behind it. It has plates that protected it like body armor and controlled the body temperature. It had a hole in the hip socket, and his back legs were considerable longer and straighter than his front ones.
My animal evolved to vertebrates, gnathostomes, tetrapods, amniotes, sauropsids, dinosaurs, ornithischians, and thyreophorans. First my animal evolved into a vertebrate. That is a backbone. Then my animal evolved to gnathostomes, a jaw. Next my animal evolved into tetrapods with four legs. Then my animal evolved into amniotes that can lay eggs on land. Next my animal evolved into a sauropsid, an animal with holes in the palate. After my animal evolved into a dinosaur, which has a hole in the hip socket that allows it to stand upright. Then my animal evolved into an ornithischian, which is an animal with a backwards pubis bone. Finally my animal evolved into a thyreophoran, which is an animal with more boney body armor to protect itself and to control body temperature.
My animal is most closely related to the shamosaurus and sauropelta. I found that out by going to the closest node and seeing the two animals that branched off. My animal’s most advanced trait is bony body armor—thyreophorans. That is the last trait my animal evolved. The two animals that are closely related to my animal have one more trait that my animal does not have.
Last updated April 7, 2007.