Page 44 - Dinosaur (DK Eyewitness Books)

Terrifying tails
Bony tail spike

TȩȦ ȵȢȪȭȴ Ȱȧ ȴȭȰȸ ȱȭȢȯȵ ȦȢȵȪȯȨ dinosaurs
often provided their best defenses. Sauropods,
ankylosaurs, and stegosaurs lacked sharp teeth,
and most were without dangerous claws, but
many had a tail that could be used as a weapon.
Certain sauropods had immensely long tails
they could lash like whips. Tails tipped with
large bony clubs helped some ankylosaurs to fend
off meat-eating dinosaurs. There were spike-tailed
ankylosaurs, too, but the longest tail spikes belonged
to the stegosaurs. Even a large, sharp-toothed attacker
was at risk when a stegosaur started swishing its tail in
defense. Some animals today also have tails that double
as weapons, but the dinosaurs had the strongest
rear-end defenses of all.

SPIKED TAIL
Kentrosaurus (“spiked lizard”) had
many pairs of long spikes sticking
out sideways and backward from its Curved spike on back
tail. If a big theropod tried attacking
this stegosaur’s flanks, Kentrosaurus
brandished these spikes as swords for
stabbing the predator. Rather than risk
deep wounds, most of Kentrosaurus’s
enemies would just go away. All
stegosaurs were armed with at least
one pair of tail spikes like these.

Large spike

Gastonia

ARMORED TAIL
Rows of triangular spikes jutted from the
sides of Gastonia’s tail. By sweeping the tail
from side to side, this ankylosaur could inflict
deep cuts on the legs of a theropod trying to creep
up from behind. Body armor in the form of bony
scutes (plates with a horny covering) ran down the
back and continued to the end of the tail. Gastonia
grew to about 16 ft (5 m) long and foraged in the
woodlands of western North America around
125 million years ago.

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