Re: RUNNING STEGOSAURS

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

In a message dated 7/17/01 3:04:11 PM EST, Tetanurae@aol.com writes:

<< I need to interject here....  Excellent runners compared to what?  The
most
 basal stegosaurs I am aware of are Huayangosaurus and Dacentrurus, both of
 which were probably quite a bit less spritely than Stegosaurus itself.
 Dacentrurus was positively massive, probably bigger than Stegosaurus itself.

 All non-stegosaurin stegosaurids (Stegosaurini = Stegosaurus, Wuerhosaurus,
 and Monkonosaurus [no, the name is not official, just something I made up to
 facilitate discussion]) were even further slowed by the presence of
sometimes
 massive shoulder spines, and thicker plates. >>

I'm not talking about what stegosaurs >became<, I'm talking about their
Triassic to Early Jurassic forms, as yet undiscovered, which (even if they
were early thyreophorans, which I am not convinced that they were) were still
good cursors somewhat resembling Scutellosaurus.

Otherwise, explain why graviportal forms would lose digit >and< metatarsal I
in the hind foot. Didn't happen in any other graviportal dinosaur group, why
in stegosaurs?