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The '''thagomizer''' is the arrangement of tail spikes on extinct plant-eating [[dinosaur]]s, specifically of the family ''Stegosauridae'', which had, depending on the species, between four and fourteen spikes placed in pairs along the tail.  The most famous of these was ''Stegosaurus stenops'', a 30-foot animal whose fossilized remains are found in western North America.

The '''thagomizer''' is the arrangement of tail spikes on extinct plant-eating [[dinosaur]]s, specifically of the family ''Stegosauridae'', which had, depending on the species, between four and fourteen spikes placed in pairs along the tail.  The most famous of these was ''Stegosaurus stenops'', a 30-foot animal whose fossilized remains are found in western North America.

Once called simply "tail spikes" or ''osteoderms'' scientifically, the word ''thagomizer'' had its origins as a mere joke.  In 1982 cartoonist [[Gary Larson]] published a panel from his ''[[Far Side]]'' series of comic strips, which showed a lecture hall of [[caveman]] scientists, one of which was pointing out the feature of the stegosaur responsible for the demise of "the late Thag Simmons".  In fact, so popular was the panel with scientists that the term ''thagomizer'' was adopted as an actual anatomical term for the Stegosaurus tail-spike arrangment.  

Once called simply "tail spikes" or ''osteoderms'' scientifically, the word ''thagomizer'' had its origins as a mere joke.  In 1982 cartoonist [[Gary Larson]] published a panel from his ''[[Far Side]]'' series of comic strips, which showed a lecture hall of [[caveman]] scientists, one of which was pointing out the feature of the stegosaur responsible for the demise of "the late Thag Simmons".  In fact, so popular was the panel with scientists that the term ''thagomizer'' was adopted as an actual anatomical term for the Stegosaurus tail-spike arrangement.  

==links==

==links==

*[http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/mg19125592.200.html article in ''New Scientist'' Magazine, July 8, 2006]

*[http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/mg19125592.200.html article in ''New Scientist'' Magazine, July 8, 2006]