What the stegosaurus's plates made for?

Answer 1

There are a number of theories regarding the function of Stegosaurus plates.

# They were used for thermoregulation. The blood vessels in the plates allowed the animal to cool itself in the wind. However, close relatives of Stegosaurus didn't have plates that would be a good shape for cooling, so plates probably weren't necessary for cooling the animal. # They were used for display or to intimidate rivals. Stegosaurus plates could have potentially blushed red. One piece of evidence against this is that both male and female Stegosaurus had similar plates, whereas displays are usually only present on males. # Some say Stegosaurus plates were used as armor, but they left the sides exposed and thus wouldn't have been very effective as armor. Paleontologist Robert Bakker believes that the plates may have been mobile, though, and that they could move them to help fight off predators. If he is correct, the plates would hang down on its back when Stegosaurus wasn't using them.

Answer 2

Nobody can prove exactly what the plates were for but there is good evidence that they used them to either: # get rid of excess heat, # attract mates or, # protect the back from being bitten.