Dino card No. 1697 of 2,015

Stegosaurus

Say it: STEG-oh-SORE-us

Name means: “roof lizard”1

Ate: PlantsPlated dinosLate Jurassic to Late Cretaceous

Stegosaurus was a big, plant-eating dinosaur with a row of big plates on its back and spikes on its tail. It lived in the Late Jurassic period, about 155 to 145 million years ago, and is one of the most famous dinosaurs ever.1

Lived

162 to 94 million years ago2

Late Jurassic to Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Western United States and Portugal1

Food

Plants1

Length

9 m1

largest known specimens about 9 meters long

Weight

6.9 tonnes1

Artist's life restoration of Stegosaurus — How Stegosaurus may have looked, by Fred Wierum. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Scientists still argue about colours and details.

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

Stegosaurus had a very small brain compared to its body, but it still survived for millions of years.1

The plates on its back were probably used for display or to control body temperature, not for fighting.1

Its tail had spikes, and scientists think Stegosaurus used them to defend itself from predators like Allosaurus.1

Stegosaurus had small, peg-shaped teeth that were not good for chewing, so it probably swallowed plants whole.1

It could probably only eat plants that were about 1 meter (3 feet) above the ground, unless it stood on two legs.1

Stegosaurus is the state fossil of Colorado, USA, since 1982.1

Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Stegosaurus had a second brain in its hips to help control its body.

Truth: Scientists now think that space in the hips was just for storing energy, not for a second brain.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Stegosaurus
Named by: Marsh 18772
Group: Plated dinos
Family / clade: Stegosauridae2
Classification: Ornithischia > Stegosauria > Thyreophora2
Age of the rocks: 162 to 94 million years (Oxfordian to Cenomanian)2
Rock formations: Morrison, Alcobaça, Cedar Mountain2
Countries: USA, Portugal, China2
Fossil records: 86 in the Paleobiology Database2
Discovery: O. C. Marsh named Stegosaurus in 1877. The first nearly complete skeleton was found in Colorado, USA, in 1885 and 1886 by Marshall P. Felch.1
Still debated: Scientists still debate how Stegosaurus ate enough plants to get so big, because its teeth and jaws were different from other plant-eating dinosaurs.1

Where the facts come from

Stegosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Stegosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@dinowiki.app and we will fix it.