![]() This meant that the entire back section of the animal was probably destroyed. Miragaia longicollum was discovered during construction of a road. Mateus and colleagues suggested that the long neck either allowed Miragaia to browse at a level that other herbivores were not exploiting, or that the neck arose due to sexual selection. Only the Chinese sauropods Euhelopus, Mamenchisaurus, and Omeisaurus had as many neck vertebrae as Miragaia, with most sauropods of the Late Jurassic possessing only 12 to 15. Additionally, Miragaia had more neck vertebrae than most sauropods, dinosaurs known for their long necks, which contrasts with the traditional view of stegosaurians as low browsers with short necks. This represents the culmination of a trend of longer necks seen in stegosaurians. It grew to be about 20 ft (6 m) long from nose to tail, with the extended neck making up a lot of it.Īn artist`s rendition of Miragaia longicollum (note that the back section of the animal is just speculation, since there wasn`t much of the back of the animal found with the holotype). One feature that sets Miragaia apart form other stegosaurs is its extended neck with 17 vertebrae in it. It was a quadruped, and walked around on four stout, slow-moving legs, but Miragaia was so well defended it didn't need to run fast. It also had several spikes on its tail (thagomizers) that it could use to hit predators with or scare them off. It had long spikes that came out of each shoulder, possibly for display. It had several plates that went down along its back, possibly for thermal regulating or attracting mates and scaring off rivals or predators. ![]() Together, they form the clade Dacentrurinae. It's closely related to the more famous Dacentrurus. Miragaia was herbivorous, like all stegosaurs. ![]()
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