Toy Box Inspiration: Dinosaurs, Part One

(cross-posted at JH&S)

So, I needed a little inspiration to post, and I found it in my nephew's box of dinosaurs. He's always liked dinosaurs, and I have encouraged that interest. I try to teach him the names of the different dinosaurs, and what they eat, etc.

Here is the first dinosaur...

(click to enlarge)

Notice the trees I positioned to make it more life-like? Awesome.

Now. What I believe we have here is the mighty stegosaurus. Notice the spikes on the tail, and the alternating armour plates on either side of the spine? Its head seems a little big, but toy dinosaurs aren't always entirely anatomically correct...or maybe they got crazy and made a less-well-known stegosaur. Anywho, this guy was about the size of a bus, and was an herbivore. (Herbivores are plant-eaters.)

See how his front legs bow out like a lizard? That stance, combined with relatively short limbs compared to his bulk, probably mean the stegosaurus was not exactly winning any land races. The tail spikes and possibly the spinal plates were used in defense against predators. Imagine the predator that would look at a spikey, bus-sized stegosaurus and think, "Mmm, tasty."