Stegosaurus
is one of the most recognizable types among
cultural depictions of dinosaurs
.
[1]
It has been depicted on film, in cartoons, comics, as children's toys, as sculpture, and even was declared the
state dinosaur
of
Colorado
in 1982.
[2]
Stegosaurus
is a subject for inclusion in dinosaur
toy
and
scale model
lines, such as the
Carnegie Collection
.
As late as the 1970s,
Stegosaurus
, along with other dinosaurs, was depicted in fiction as a slow-moving, dim-witted creature. The "
dinosaur renaissance
" changed the prevailing image of dinosaurs as sluggish and
cold-blooded
and this reevaluation has been reflected in popular media.
[3]
Literature
[
edit
]
A sketch of a
Stegosaurus
(based on a drawing by
Ray Lydekker
) forms an important plot point in the opening chapters of
The Lost World
by
Arthur Conan Doyle
.
In
Tarzan at the Earth's Core
, by
Edgar Rice Burroughs
, Jason Gridley encounters a
Stegosaurus
in
Pellucidar
, the world within the Earth. The animal jumps from a height and uses its plates as a gliding mechanism to chase and attack him; the real animal likely could not perform such an act.
Evelyn Sibley Lampman
's
The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek
[4]
is a children's book about twins who find a talking
Stegosaurus
on their ranch in Oregon. She also wrote a sequel,
The Shy Stegosaurus of Indian Springs
.
[5]
The main hero and protagonist of
Steve Cole
's
Astrosaurs
series is an anthropomorphic
Stegosaurus
named Captain Teggs.
In
Michael Crichton
's 1990 novel
Jurassic Park
, the main characters come across a sick
Stegosaurus
at the south of
Isla Nublar
. It would later be replaced by a
Triceratops
in the movie adaptation.
Cinema
[
edit
]
In the 1933 monster film
King Kong
, the first creature that the band of rescuers meet, as they chase the abducted
Fay Wray
deep into Skull Island, is a roaring
Stegosaurus
, which charges. In the 2005
Peter Jackson
remake
Stegosaurus
is nowhere to be seen, although in the extended edition the
Triceratops
-like fictional
Ferrucutus
takes its place. A hypothetical descendant of
Stegosaurus
, called
Atercurisaurus
, appears in the tie-in book
The World of Kong
.
Walt Disney
's 1940 animated film
Fantasia
features a harrowing battle between a
Stegosaurus
and a
Tyrannosaurus rex
during a segment based on
The Rite of Spring
by
Igor Stravinsky
as performed by
Leopold Stokowski
and the
Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra
, which depicts the
history
of life on
Earth
. (However, this conflicts with the scientific fact that the two genera did not co-exist at the same time in history.) The infamous scene is echoed by a display at the
Denver Museum of Nature and Science
which shows a
Stegosaurus
facing off with an
Allosaurus
.
Over the years,
Stegosaurus
has often been pitted in battle against large carnivorous dinosaurs, on both the big and small screen. It came up against
Ceratosaurus
in
Journey to the Beginning of Time
(1954), in
The Animal World
(1956), in the
PBS
mini-series
The Dinosaurs!
(1992), in the documentary
When Dinosaurs Roamed America
(2001), and in the documentary series
Jurassic Fight Club
(2008) where it also faces
Allosaurus
. It faced
Allosaurus
in the first episode of the French animated series
Once Upon a Time... Man
(1978), in the anime series
Kyouryuu Wakusei
(
Dinosaur Planet
) (1993?94), in
Dinosaur Valley Girls
(1996), in episode two of
Walking with Dinosaurs
(1999), as well as in the special
The Ballad of Big Al
(2000), in episode three of the German cartoon series
Albert Asks What is Life?
(2002), in
Mammals vs. Dinos
(2007), and in
Planet Dinosaur
(2011). It has even been pitted against
Tyrannosaurus
in Walt Disney's
Fantasia
(1940) (which was the first time the defense of the spike tail was seen), in
Planet of Dinosaurs
(1978), in the cartoon series
Dino Riders
(1988), in the remake of the series
Land of the Lost
(1991?92), in the anime television series
Dinosaur King
(2007?08), and in the opening scene of
The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave
(2016). On one occasion, it confronted
Spinosaurus
in the television series
Dino Dan
(2010).
An ailing
Stegosaurus
is encountered by the characters in the novel
Jurassic Park
,
[6]
but was replaced by a
Triceratops
in the film version. Although it makes no actual appearance in the film, the name is used; it is on one of the embryo vials stolen (misspelled as
Steg
a
saurus
). A group of
Stegosaurus
also appeared
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
, as one of the first dinosaurs to be seen, although they were depicted as far larger than the actual animal. They also were seen briefly in
Jurassic Park III
. They then made a lot of appearances in
Jurassic World
,
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
and
Jurassic World Dominion
.
A very large
Stegosaurus
is encountered in the film
The People that Time Forgot
(1977) where it is seen eating plants and is used to tow a plane.
Stegosaurus
is one of the three dinosaur types whose physical characteristics were combined by the designers at
Toho
, to create the
Japanese monster
Godzilla
; the other two dinosaurs were
Tyrannosaurus
and
Iguanodon
. In the American version of
King Kong vs. Godzilla
this is remarked upon by a reporter, claiming Godzilla was half-
Stegosaurus
, half-
Tyrannosaurus
.
Television
[
edit
]
Stegosaurus
has also featured in several television series. In the
Bob the Builder
episode, Scoop's Stegosaurus, Scoop finds the bones of a Stegosaurus while he, Bob and Lofty are repairing Farmer Pickles’ drain. A skeleton of the stegosaurus was seen in the
Thomas and Friends
ninth series episode, Rheneas and the Dinosaur. A
Stegosaurus
has also appeared in one episode of
Doctor Who
. More recently, in 2010, a
Stegosaurus
appeared in
the first Series 4 Prequel Webisode
of the
ITV
series
Primeval
. It was incorrectly shown as having a small horn on its head. This is due to the fact that, instead of creating another model for the
Stegosaurus
entirely, the special effects team decided to use the same
Embolotherium
model, which they had previously used, earlier on, in the making of
Episode 3.9
of
Primeval
. In the episode "
Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?
" of
Fringe
,
Stegosaurus'
second brain
is mentioned as William Bell's design choice for shape-shifters' memory storage unit.
Stegosaurus
has been featured in numerous television documentaries, such as:
Cartoons and comics
[
edit
]
Stegosaurus
has also often been featured in children's cartoons. The
Transformers
toyline and related
television series
features four characters which can transform into stegosaurids:
Snarl
, Slugfest, Saberback and Striker. In
The Land Before Time
and its sequels, the character
Spike
is a young
Stegosaurus
. In the 1980s cartoon
Dinosaucers
, the character Stego is an anthropomorphic
Stegosaurus
who, while still only a trainee soldier, accomplishes difficult tasks despite his inexperience. Several
Stegosaurus
also appear in the 1989 animated TV series
Dink the Little Dinosaur
. In the
Disney Afternoon
cartoon series
Darkwing Duck
, the character Stegmutt is an anthropomorphic duck transformed into a humanoid
Stegosaurus
. Also, Stegz was an anthropomorphic stegosaur featured in the series
Extreme Dinosaurs
. Ironically, despite the tiny brain size of
Stegosaurus
, he was the most intelligent of the characters in the show. One of the Dino Knights and Drago Clones in
Dinozaurs
were Dino Stego and his evil counterpart Drago Stegus. In the
YouTube
series "
asdfmovie
," there is a running gag that a character would get crushed by a foot, and the camera zooms out to show a dinosaur who looks nothing like a
Stegosaurus
(no back plates, longer neck, taller structure, and longer tail). Then the dinosaur says, "I am a
Stegosaurus
!"
Gary Larson
's
The Far Side
comic strip often used stegosaurs when he showed dinosaurs. The term "
thagomizer
" originated as a joke from a
Far Side
comic strip
, in which a group of
cavemen
in a lecture hall are taught by their caveman professor that the spikes were named in honor of "the late Thag Simmons" (the implication is that the thagomizer was responsible for Thag's death). The term has been popularly adopted by many
palaeontological
authorities,
[7]
including the
Smithsonian Institution
.
[8]
Science
[
edit
]
In September 2002, a hoax poster was presented at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology entitled "The case for
Stegosaurus
as an agile,
cursorial
biped
", ostensibly by T. R. Karbek (an anagram of
R. T. Bakker
) from the non-existent "Steveville Academy of Palaeontological Studies". This was reported in
New Scientist
magazine, where it was remarked that
Stegosaurus
was generally believed to be "about as cursorial as a fridge-freezer".
[9]
Sculpture
[
edit
]
Sculptor
Jim Gary
created several, almost-life-sized versions of
Stegosaurus
. Beginning in the 1960s, one always was displayed among his traveling exhibition,
Jim Gary's Twentieth Century Dinosaurs
, and they are frequently used as an illustration of his work in books and articles about the artist because of their distinctive characteristics. One of these was displayed for months before the electrical engineering research facility at the
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
during a 2005 campus-wide display of the exhibition, which was hosted by
Belk College
, and became a
mascot
of sorts to students studying in nearby buildings.
[10]
[11]
Howard the Duck
walked under a Jim Gary
Stegosaurus
when a museum display of Gary's work was used as a set for the 1986 film.
In 1973
Alexander Calder
also created a huge sculpture called,
Stegosaurus
, that was more abstract than Gary's.
[12]
It stands 50 feet tall in Hartford, Connecticut.
[13]
[14]
Theme parks
[
edit
]
A battle between a
Stegosaurus
and a
Tyrannosaurus rex
similar to
The Rite of Spring
segment in the 1940
Disney
animated film
Fantasia
was created using new
Audio-Animatronics
for Disney's Magic Skyway attraction at the
1964 World's Fair
. When the Fair ended, the attraction was dismantled. However, in 1966 the dinosaurs were moved next to the Grand Canyon Diorama along the
Disneyland Railroad
to make the
Primeval World
.
Tokyo Disneyland
's
Western River Railroad
has the same diorama. A similar scene is depicted in
Epcot
's
Universe of Energy
pavilion. The Stegosaurus appearing in the various
Universal Studios
theme parks attraction
Jurassic Park: The Ride
, also known as Jurassic Park River Adventure in
Universal
's
Islands of Adventure
.
Other
[
edit
]
Stegosaurus
has long been featured in popular informational books about dinosaurs. This is ostensibly due to its status as being one of the most famous dinosaurs in popular culture. Several older nonfiction books incorrectly stated that
Stegosaurus
had two brains, due to a mistake made by Marsh during the 1800s, in which a bundle of nerves located in the hips was thought to be a "second brain". However, newer informational works have corrected this, and most nonfiction dinosaur books published nowadays correctly state that
Stegosaurus
had only one ? albeit tiny ? brain, located in its skull, as all other known vertebrates do.
Stegosaurus
has also featured in numerous video games such as
Zoo Tycoon: Dinosaur Digs
,
Ark: Survival Evolved
,
Jurassic World Evolution 2
,
Combat of Giants
, and
Carnivores
. In the latter game, the animal was depicted as an awkward, lumbering reptile, similar to many outdated illustrations, even though the game was released in 1998, at least a decade after the general public recognized
Stegosaurus
and other dinosaurs as active warm-blooded beasts.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Fastovsky DE, Weishampel DB (2005). "Stegosauria:Hot Plates". In Fastovsky DE, Weishampel DB (ed.).
The Evolution and Extinction of the Dinosaurs
(2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 107?130.
ISBN
0-521-81172-4
.
- ^
"Archives"
.
- ^
Lucas, S.G. (2006).
"The Three Faces of Dinosaurs"
.
Geotimes
. Retrieved October 7, 2006.
- ^
1955 reprint, illustrated by Hubert Buel,
ISBN
978-1-930900-37-0
,
OCLC
186951
- ^
1962, illustrated by Paul Galdone, ISBN unknown,
OCLC
522032
- ^
Crichton M (1990).
Jurassic Park
. Alfred A. Knopf.
ISBN
0-394-58816-9
.
- ^
https://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/mg19125592.200.html
"The word: Thagomizer,"
New Scientist,
July 8, 2006. Retrieved October 26, 2006.
Archived
February 17, 2007, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Stegosaurus Changes"
. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Department of Paleobiology. Archived from
the original
on 2006-07-14
. Retrieved
2006-03-07
.
- ^
"Feedback".
New Scientist Magazine
. Elsevier. 16 November 2002.
- ^
"Light emitting diodes (LED) & optoelectronic device research at UNC Charlotte"
.
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
. Archived from
the original
on 2007-01-12
. Retrieved
2006-12-26
.
- ^
"Ed Stokes"
. Archived from
the original
on 2012-04-15.
- ^
"Calder's Stegosaurus and the Travelers tower, Hartford"
.
Flickr
. 6 September 2008.
- ^
"Images of Stegosaurus, Hartford, Connecticut, 1973, by Alexander Calder. Digital Imaging Project: Art historical images of European and North American architecture and sculpture from classical Greek to Post-modern. Scanned from slides taken on site by Mary Ann Sullivan, Bluffton College"
.
- ^
"Hartford, Connecticut | Landmarks & Monuments"
. Archived from
the original
on 2012-03-31
. Retrieved
2012-04-14
.
External links
[
edit
]