Characteristics ~ ~ ~ ~

Everyone loves Stegosaurus except for people of the 1900s who thought it was the most grotesque animal to have ever lived. Walking quadrupedally with hindlimbs that were longer than its forelimbs and a curved back that let its tail hang upward. Stegosaurus was massive, the largest of its genus, reaching heights of 13 feet tall and lengths of 9 meters long. It had 17 to 22 plates roofing the skin on its back that were made of ossified bone and covered in a layer of keratin. The largest plates were placed along the hip and could reach 24 by 24 inches as they decrease in size approaching the head and the thagomizer. They were used for defense, protecting their back, neck, and tail from carnivores, supported in the fossil record by a plate that has been gnawed on by Allosaurus. The keratin layer on the plates may have sharp edges to further prevent predator attacks. As well as being for display, likely having bright colors leading to males with the largest and brightest plates were most likely to attract a mate. A thagomizer is the official name for the pairs of tail spikes on Stegosaurs. The 2 pairs of spikes that reached 2 feet in length were undeniably a weapon, swinging spikes into predators like Allosaurus, which has been found with a thagomizer spike lodged within a tail vertebrae. As you have noticed Stegosaurus and Allosaurus had a fierce rivalry with both being found with Injuries caused by one another. Stegosaurus had a very small head relative to its body leading to its intelligence being less than admirable only having a brain the size of a walnut and an encephalization quotient of 0.5; early paleontologists thought that it must have had a second brain within its tail or *rectum* to make up for this shortcoming however that is obviously not the case. Stegosaurus is likely the most popular dinosaur from the Morrison formation which already has many famous dinosaurs like: Ceratosaurus, Diplodocus, Camarasaurus, Brachiosaurus, Apatosaurus, and Dryosaurus. Stegosaurus had a hard time at the end of the Jurassic period with the newly evolved Nodosaurs and Ankylosaurs, which had higher intelligence, more developed senses, and better-adapted armor that covered more of the body. So by the Early Cretaceous, the Stegosaurus's last relative Wuerhosaurus, went extinct 135.2 million years ago. Other popular stegosaurs are the long-necked Mirigaia, the Chinese Huayangosaurus, the tiny Chungkingosaurus, Gigantspinosaurus and its Gigantic shoulder blades, and Kentrosaurus.

×

History & Fossils ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1877 Arthur Lakes found the first Stegosaurus armatus specimen, it was described the same year by Othneil Charles Marsh by a few caudal (tail) vertebrae a plate and a few other fragmentary bones. The plates initially believed to the shell of a large ancient turtle being arranged like the shingles of a roof thus Stegosaurus - "roofed lizard". Shortly after Marsh's Rival Edward Drinker Cope described hypsirhophus discurus which is considered to be a synonym of Stegosaurus. 1879 Lakes found a quarry of Stegosaurus material which included the holotype of Stegosaurus ungulatus. A nearly complete skeleton was uncovered in 1885 by Mark P. Feltch and would be classified as Stegosaurus stenops, which would later replace Stegosaurus armatus as the type species. Stegosaurus is the State fossil of Colorado, and April 25th is recognized as Stegosaurus day by the Colorado Natural History Mueseum

Sophie is the most complete Stegosaurus fossil to date, being 85% complete and around 19ft long. First discovered by Bob Simon in 2003 at a quarry on the Red Canyon Ranch. Originally nicknamed Sarah by the museum staff after the landowners daughter but was later renamed to Sophie after Jeremy Herrmann's daughter.

Apex is a nearly complete 27 foot long Stegosaurus skeleton. Apex was sold in an auction for 44.6 million dollars the most any dinosaur skeleton has ever sold for. Apex is currently being held by a private owner however he is accessible to researchers.

Media Deptictions ~ ~ ~ ~

Jurassic Park: The Lost World Upon receiving fan mail from a child disappointed that his favorite dinosaur Stegosaurus, wasn't in Jurassic Park. Although it was in the Jurassic Park novel being the sick dinosaur instead of the Triceratops The Stegosaurus was the first dinosaur in the Lost World, they are massive in their debut scene, at certain angles they look twice as large as their real-life counterparts. Stegosaurus appears almost everywhere else in the franchise since it's such an iconic animal. I wish the design was updated it's dated and it's too fat.

Walking With Dinosaurs Featured in both Jurassic episodes. In one, it’s thought that Stegosaurus could flush their plates with blood to make them brighter and more intimidating but this has been debunked. The Animals are close minded and rather aggressive with one scene whereit impales a baby Diplodocus for getting too close to it.

Prehistoric Kingdom Stegosaurus is coming to the game as of update 17. So far there are two species planned S. stenops and S. ungulatus with 4 base skins. Not much can be said yet as it's not in the game, but it is wierd to see such a fan favorite make such a late appearence.

Extras ~ ~ ~ ~

Species Field Guide Stegosaurus

< >

Stegosaurus stenops vs Allosaurus fragilis by VibrantNebula on Sketchfab

Articles:

A new order of extinct Reptilia (Stegosauria) from the Jurassic of the Rocky Mountains (1887)

Osteology of the armored Dinosauria in the United States National Museum, with special reference to the genus Stegosaurus (1914)

Armor of Stegosaurus stenops, and the taphonomic history of a new specimen from Garden Park, Colorado (1998)

Species of plated dinosaur Stegosaurus (Morrison Formation, Late Jurassic) of western USA: new type species designation needed (2010)

Were there two forms of Stegosaurus?(2015)