Bryan Kneale (British, B. 1930) "Dinosaurs - Stegosaurus" Original Colored Pencil on Illustration Board. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This artwork was originally published on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the Great Britain Owen's Dinosauria 1841 26p Stegosaurus stamp issued August 20, 1991. The late Jurassic Period produced one of the dinosaur era's most unusual creatures -- the Stegosaurus. It developed as a biped, but through the eons it reverted to a quadruped, thus accounting for its high haunches and short forelegs. Measuring approximately twenty feet in length, the Stegosaurus was armored -- with two offset rows of large, triangular, horn-covered bony plates along its back and two pairs of long, pointed bony spikes at the end of its tail. This battle-ready, ponderous body completely dwarfed the creature's comically-small head and suggested a pugnacious nature. But the Stegosaurus was a peaceably-natured dinosaur which grazed on soft vegetation and counted on its formidable appearnace to ward off predators. Closer examination of Stegosaurus fossils in the late 1970s revealed that the bony plates contained a network of canals which probably contained blood vessels. Many scientitsis now speculate that the vessels served as a convective heat-loss system, enabling the dinosaur to control its own body temperature. Such startling information suggests that dinosaurs were warm-blooded creatures -- not cold-blooded like modern reptiles -- and add extra dimension to the continuing quest to explain their mass extinction. Image Size: 14.25 x 16.5 in. Overall Size: 23.75 x 28.25 in. Unframed. (B13214) See More