S t egosaurus wielded a spiked tail - dubbed a “thagomizer” by cartoonist Gary Larson and informally adopted by paleontologists - which the herbivorous dinosaur likely used for defense against hungry predators.
New research finds that extinct, tail weapon-wielding animals - such as the dueling ankylosaurs illustrated here - all shared a set of traits, including large body size, herbivory and bony body armor, that no modern animals possess.
