Stegosaurus

Stegosaurus stenops

Stegosaurus is famous for its double row of large bony plates along its back and the spiked tail (thagomizer). Despite its large body, its brain was only the size of a walnut. The plates may have been used for thermoregulation and display.

Physical Description

Measurement	Value	Human Scale
Longueur	9.0 m	roughly the length of a large SUV
Height	4.0 m	—
Poids	5.0 t	about the weight of 0.8 elephants

Diet & Feeding

Herbivore

Stegosaurus was a plant-eating dinosaur. Herbivores typically fed on ferns, cycads, conifers, and other vegetation available during their era. Many herbivorous dinosaurs developed specialized teeth and digestive systems for processing tough plant material.

Time Period

Jurassic Late Mesozoic Era

Stegosaurus lived during the Jurassic Late period of the Mesozoic Era, approximately 161,5 to 145,0 million years ago.

One of the most iconic periods for dinosaurs. Giant sauropods like Brachiosaurus and Diplodocus roamed alongside predators like Allosaurus. Archaeopteryx, the earliest known bird, appeared. The Morrison Formation preserves an extraordinary fossil record from this time.

Discovery & Naming

Nommé par	Othniel Charles Marsh
Année de découverte	1877
Lieu de découverte	Morrison, Colorado, USA

Classification

Dinosauria → Ornithischia → Thyreophora → Stegosauria → Stegosaurus

Plated dinosaurs

Herbivorous dinosaurs characterized by large bony plates along the back and tail spikes (thagomizer). Most common in the Late Jurassic. Stegosaurus is the best-known member.