Horns, frills, plates and clubs: Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Ankylosaurus and the duck-bills

Tests: 4 of 11 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 10 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 267 of the biology course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: the lesson in the corpora.

Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: the lesson's questions in the corpora.

Test 1 · right ✓

«Stegosaurus had a brain in its bum to help it walk, read it in a book» Is that right?

1. Yes, but only babies had it — no support
2. No, that is an old myth; the space held nerves and maybe stored energy — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
3. No, it had no brain at all — score 5
4. Yes, it had two brains — score 4

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 6, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 267, line 9: «The idea that Stegosaurus had a second brain in its hip is a myth; the space there held nerves and perhaps energy-rich tissue, as in birds' hips today.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «nerves» (+3); the same action «hold» (+2); the same doer «space» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · right ✓

«Triceratops and T. rex never met, T. rex came way later» Is that right?

1. No, they lived at the same time and place — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
2. Yes, T. rex came millions of years later — score -2
3. No, T. rex lived only in the sea — score 6
4. Yes, Triceratops lived much later, with people — score 6

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 8, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 267, line 6: «Triceratops had three horns and a big bony frill, weighed as much as an elephant or more, and lived at the same time and place as T. rex.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «live» (+4); the same doer «triceratops» (+2); the same property (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · wrong ✗

Count them: 2 Triceratops and 3 Stegosaurus stand in a museum. How many horns on the Triceratops and spikes on the Stegosaurus tails in all?

1. 3 horns and 12 spikes — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 6 horns and 12 spikes — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. 6 horns and 6 spikes — no support
4. 5 horns and 8 spikes — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · right ✓

«Stego's back plates, that's armour innit, like a knight» What is closer to the truth?

1. They were too thin for good armour, probably for display — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. They were made of metal, like a real knight's armour — no support
3. They were folded-up wings it opened to fly away — no support
4. Yes, they were thick armour that stopped every single bite — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · wrong ✗

What would happen if an Allosaurus grabbed an Ankylosaurus from the side?

1. It would easily bite through the armour — no support
2. It might get its leg broken by the tail club — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. The Ankylosaurus would turn into a ball and roll away — ← Mova's choice · score 5
4. The Ankylosaurus would fly away — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 3 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 141, line 12: «Rabbits have excellent hearing; each long ear can turn on its own to catch sounds from any side, and the ears help them cool down.», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «turn» (+6). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · wrong ✗

A Parasaurolophus model has a hollow crest. A museum blows air through it. What do you expect?

1. Nothing, the crest is solid — no support
2. A bang like a drum — no support
3. A deep honk, like a trumpet — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. A high whistle like a bird — ← Mova's choice · score 0

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score 0, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 70, line 6: «Smells are tiny bits of a substance floating in the air; they land on smell cells high inside the nose, which send signals to the brain.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · wrong ✗

Scientists find nests with babies of different sizes still in them. What does that suggest?

1. The babies never grew at all after they hatched — score 4
2. The parents cared for the babies after hatching — ✓ the right answer · score 4
3. The babies had been stolen from other dinosaurs' nests — score 5
4. The nests were really made by small furry mammals — ← Mova's choice · score 7

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 4 with score 7, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 245, line 8: «Hornets build big paper nests, but only the young queens survive the winter; in spring each queen starts a new nest alone, and an old nest is not used again.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «build» (+4); a different doer (counts against) (+2); it fills the role the question asks for (+1). The right option, 2, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · wrong ✗

«dinosaurs were all massive, every single one» What is right?

1. No, they were all tiny, about the size of ants — ← Mova's choice · score 4
2. No, many were small, some the size of a chicken — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Yes, small dinosaurs never existed at all, anywhere — score 3
4. Yes, even the very smallest was as big as a bus — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 4, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 76, line 2: «But the dinosaurs did not all vanish: one branch of small feathered meat-eaters survived, and their great-great-grandchildren scratch for worms in the farmyard…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «dinosaurs» (+2); the same property (+2). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · right ✓

Why do Pachycephalosaurus domes with healed injuries matter?

1. They show that it chewed and swallowed rocks — no support
2. They show it had no proper skull at all — no support
3. They support the idea that they head-butted — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
4. They prove that it could fly up into the trees — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 3 with score 7, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 267, line 16: «Pachycephalosaurus had a bony dome up to 25 centimetres thick; scientists argue whether it head-butted like goats, and some domes have healed injuries, which s…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «support» (+3); the same doer «injuries» (+3); the same thing acted on «butting idea» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · wrong ✗

How could scientists tell the colour of Borealopelta?

1. From a painting made by people at the time — score 7
2. By guessing from the colours in an old cartoon — ← Mova's choice · score 8
3. From the colour of the rock it was found in — score 6
4. From tiny traces of colour kept in its fossil skin — ✓ the right answer · score 8

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 2 with score 8, tied with another option at 8 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 267, line 10: «The four tail spikes of Stegosaurus are called a thagomizer, a name scientists borrowed from a funny cartoon; an Allosaurus bone has a hole that fits a spike.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «scientists» (+3); the same circumstance (+3); a different action (counts against) (+2). The right option, 4, scored 8. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · wrong ✗

«the frill on a baby Triceratops looks well different to its mum's» Why?

1. Babies had no bones yet — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Mums broke their frills fighting — no support
3. Frills changed shape as the animal grew — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The baby was a different kind of dinosaur — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the function most probably served by the dorsal plates of Stegosaurus.

1. Impenetrable armour against all predators — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The cutting of tree trunks — no support
3. Propulsion through water — no support
4. Display, and possibly the regulation of temperature — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the purported second brain of Stegosaurus.

1. It is confirmed that the animal possessed no brain whatsoever — ← Mova's choice · score 4
2. It is confirmed that the animal possessed two brains of equal size — score 4
3. It is a discredited notion; the cavity in the hip accommodated nerves and possibly stored tissue — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. It is confirmed that the second brain exceeded the first in size — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 4, tied with another option at 4 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 26, line 12: «Sperm whales dive more than 1,000 metres deep, can hold their breath for over an hour, hunt squid using clicks, and have the biggest brain of any animal, aroun…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «sperm whales» (+2); the same thing acted on «biggest brain» (+2). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓

Ascertain the principal defensive structure borne upon the tail of Ankylosaurus.

1. A venomous sting — score 3
2. A set of four elongated spikes — no support
3. A broad swimming fin — no support
4. A heavy bony club — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 4, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 267, line 11: «Ankylosaurus was covered with bony plates in its skin and had a heavy club on its tail that could break a predator's leg.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «heavy club» (+2); the same property (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the dentition of the hadrosaurs?

1. They were entirely without teeth and swallowed vegetation whole without processing — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. They possessed teeth adapted solely to the tearing of flesh from carcasses — no support
3. They possessed hundreds of closely packed teeth adapted to the grinding of plants — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. They possessed a single pair of tusks employed in the uprooting of plants — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/267-horns-frills-plates-and-clubs/