Genus

Valid Extinct

Stegosaurus

Marsh 1877

Etymology Reptile à toit.

Stegosaurus is a genus of extinct herbivorous four-legged armored dinosaurs from the Late Jurassic, characterized by the distinctive kite-shaped upright plates along their backs and spikes on their tails. Fossils of the genus have been found in the western United States and in Portugal, where they are found in Kimmeridgian- to Tithonian-aged strata, dating to between 155 and 145 million years ago. Of the species that have been classified in the upper Morrison Formation of the western US, only three are universally recognized: S. stenops, S. ungulatus and S. sulcatus. The remains of over 80 individual animals of this genus have been found. Stegosaurus would have lived alongside dinosaurs such as Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Camarasaurus and Allosaurus, the latter of which may have preyed on it.

Temporal range

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

Paleogene

Neogene

252 201 145 66 0 Ma

PBDB occurrences

Group

Dinosaures

Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial

click to enlarge

Mounted skeleton of Stegosaurus stenops (specimen NHMUK PV R36730, "Sophie"/"Sarah") in right lateral view at the Natural History Museum, London. © Susannah Maidment et al. & Natural History Museum, London · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia

PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗

Classification

Dinosauria Unranked clade

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Ornithischia Unranked clade

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Parapredentata Unranked clade

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Saphornithischia Unranked clade

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Prionodontia Unranked clade

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Genasauria Unranked clade

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Thyreophora Unranked clade

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Thyreophoroidea Superfamily

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Eurypoda Unranked clade

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Stegosauria Unranked clade

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Stegosauridae Family

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Neostegosauria Unranked clade

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Stegosaurinae Subfamily

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Stegosaurus Genus

Fossil sites 86 geolocated sites

Distribution

Top countries

🇺🇸 United States

🇵🇹 Portugal

🇨🇳 China

Geological formations

Morrison

Alcobaça

Praia da Amoreira-Porto Novo

Upper

Cedar Mountain

Temporal distribution

Cenomanian (100.5–93.9 Ma)

Aptian (121.4–113.2 Ma)

Tithonian (149.2–143.1 Ma)

Kimmeridgian (154.8–149.2 Ma)

Species (10)

Diracodon laticeps 155 Ma

Hypsirophus discurus 149 Ma

Hypsirophus seeleyanus nomen nudum, species not entered Stegosaurus

Stegosaurus affinis nomen nudum, species not entered Stegosaurus 155 Ma

Stegosaurus armatus

Stegosaurus armatus nomen dubium, species not entered Stegosaurus 162 Ma

Stegosaurus duplex 155 Ma

Stegosaurus stenops 155 Ma

Stegosaurus sulcatus 155 Ma

Stegosaurus ungulatus 155 Ma

Synonyms (5)

Diracodon subjective synonym of Stegosaurus

Hypsirophus subjective synonym of Stegosaurus

Hypsirophus seeleyanus nomen nudum, species not entered Stegosaurus

Stegosaurus affinis nomen nudum, species not entered Stegosaurus

Stegosaurus armatus nomen dubium, species not entered Stegosaurus

Bibliography

Original description

O. C. Marsh. 1877. A new order of extinct Reptilia (Stegosauria) from the Jurassic of the Rocky Mountains. American Journal of Science and Arts 14:513-514 DOI ↗

Bibliography (44)

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O. C. Marsh. 1877. A new order of extinct Reptilia (Stegosauria) from the Jurassic of the Rocky Mountains. American Journal of Science and Arts 14:513-514 DOI ↗

Stegosaurus

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