Those Dinosaurs With Studded tail ends: Fighting tool?

[ralph124c]

Those dinosaurs (stegosaurus)? that had tails which ended in a spiked ball: were those for weapons? It would seem to be a very ineffective tool-what other function could they have had?

[beowulff]

Well, they could have discouraged other critters from trying to bite their tail…

[ElvisL1ves]

According to one museum display I’ve scene, the name “thagomizer” has become standard among paleontologists.

[bup]

The dinosaur with a ‘dragony’ tail with spikes = stegosaurus.

The dinosaur with the ‘spiked ball’ like a mace = ankylosaurus.

Yep, it’s a fair bet they were both defense tails.

[GIGObuster]

@ElvisL1ves

According to one museum display I’ve scene, the name “thagomizer” has become standard among paleontologists.

Indeed:

The word: Thagomizer

The word: Thagomizer

* 08 July 2006
* Magazine issue 2559

PALAEONTOLOGISTS don’t get many chances to name new bones. Evolution uses the same bones over and over again, altering their shape and purpose but preserving their basic nature, so anatomists simply use the same old terms to describe them. A humerus is a humerus, whether it’s in a chicken wing, a walrus flipper, the massive front leg of a brachiosaurus or our own upper arm. A few animals evolve bones that look different enough to earn their own distinct name, like the thagomizer, the fearful-looking cluster of spikes on the end of a stegosaur’s tail.

The name comes from Gary Larson’s cartoon series, The Far Side, rather than some bygone anatomist. Dinosaurs and cavemen were among Larson’s favourite characters, and he often put both in the same frame, fully aware of the anachronism.

Thagomizer

There has been debate about whether the thagomizer was used for display only, as posited by Gilmore in 1914,[6] or used as a weapon. Robert Bakker noted the tail was likely to have been much more flexible than those of other dinosaurs as it lacked ossified tendons, thus lending credence to the idea of the tail as a weapon. He also observed that Stegosaurus could have maneuvered its rear easily by keeping its large hindlimbs stationary and pushing off with its very powerfully muscled but short forelimbs, allowing it to swivel deftly to deal with attack.[7]

More recently, a study of tail spikes, by McWhinney et al.,[8] showed a high incidence of trauma-related damage. This supports the theory that the spikes were used in combat.

[Scarlett67]

@ElvisL1ves

According to one museum display I’ve scene, the name “thagomizer” has become standard among paleontologists.

This is awesome. I immediately thought of the thagomizer when I saw the title of the thread.

For the benefit of the four Far Side fans who don’t know this, Gary Larson has also had a species of louse named after him.