Old, Old Lizard’s New Look

A 140-million-year-old lizard has a new look at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Although not too many outsiders got wind of it, scientists apparently have been arguing for a century over whether the Stegosaurus had one row of armored plates down its back or two. Now, nearly 110 years after the first Stegosaurus fossil remains were found in North America, paleontologist Stephen Czerkas has decided there was only one row. He has sculpted a new lifelike model of the long-gone beast that this week became part of the Exposition Park museum’s “Dinosaurs Past and Present” exhibit. Czerkas concluded that the 20-foot dinosaur was much more efficient than earlier supposed; that with a single row of plates it could position itself to collect heat from the sun’s rays and regulate its own body temperature. With its “solar energy panels,” he suggested, the Stegosaurus could move about through different climates. The exhibit of dinosaur art, sculpture and models, which opened at the museum last Feb. 15, will remain there through August, then embark on a tour of major cities in the United States and Canada.