Stegosaurus

Stegosaurus stenops

Resurrected on:

13 mrt. 2021

Genus information

Stegosaurus is probably one of the most famous dinosaurs known to the general public. It lived during the Upper Jurassic epoch of North America and Europe. It was a heavily built and well-armoured dinosaur with long hind limbs, a high tail with four spines and a small head. On its back it had two rows of plates in different sizes, growing larger in the center. The function of these plates is still debated: some think they were used for display or to intimidate rivals or predators, while others even suggest they were used for thermoregulation.

Family:

Distribution:

Epoch:

Stegosauridae

North America and Europe

Upper Jurassic

Species information

Stegosaurus stenops is known from the Upper Jurassic epoch of North America and fossils have been found in Wyoming, Utah and Colorado in the USA. It wasn't the largest member of its genus and could grow up to 7 meters in length and weighted about 3.000 kg. Stegosaurus stenops had larger and more rounded plates on its back and shorter hind limbs compared to Stegosaurus ungulatus. It was a herbivore and fed on low vegetation, like grasses and bushes.

Species:

Paleontologist:

Distribution:

Epoch:

Stegosaurus stenops

Marsh, 1887

North America

Upper Jurassic

Length:

Height:

Weight:

7.0 m

2.6 m

3.500 kg

Reference:

Maidment, S. C. R., Brassey, C., & Barrett, P. M. (2015). The postcranial skeleton of an exceptionally complete individual of the plated dinosaur Stegosaurus stenops (Dinosauria: Thyreophora) from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Wyoming, USA. PloS one, 10(10), e0138352.