One of the most recognizable dinosaurs, the Stegosaurus, has large plates going from its head to its tail. Not only did this dinosaur have plates, but it also had spikes on its tail. It is through that they used these features to defend themselves.
The tail and spikes are used like a club to attack enemies. They’ve even found spike-shaped wounds in fossils of their predators. These famously armored dinosaurs had to protect themselves because they couldn’t outrun their predators.
Stegosaurus Basic Information
- Name: Stegosaurus
- Pronunciation: STEG-uh-SORE-us
- Meaning: roof-lizard
- Time-Period: Late Jurassic 155 – 145 MYA
- Classification:
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Reptilia
- Family: Stegosauridae
- Subfamily: Stegosaurinae
- Tribe:
- Genus: Stegosaurus
- Species: Stegosaurus stenops
- Diet: herbivores
- Fossil Locations: USA 1877
Credit: By Richard Swann Lull – Gilmore, C.W. (1914). Osteology of the armored Dinosauria in the United States National Museum, with special reference to the genus Stegosaurus. Smithsonian Institution United Stated National Museum Bulletin 89., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45297299
Where Did Stegosaurus Live?
The stegosaurus has been found in both the western United States and in Portugal.
Their fossils have been found in:
- Colorado
- Wyoming
- Utah
- Portugal
- Spain
The land masses of the US and European landmasses used to be connected millions of years ago. Thus, fossils were found in the US as well as Portugal and Spain.
Stegosaurus Physical Characteristics
The Stegosaurus was one of the most popular armoured dinosaurs, a big, slow, lumbering giant lizard. Although it was slow, you’d think it would be good prey, but it has many ways of defending itself with its thick scaly skin.
Credit: By KoprX – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=86484398
- Size (Length/Height): 30 feet (9.1 meters) / 13 feet (4 meters)
- Notable Features: Stegosaurus have plates on their backs that are about 3 square feet.
- Weight: 4.5 tons
- Appearance: These four-legged dinosaurs had shorter front legs and a very small head, leading to a forward tipping posture. The plates on its back were actually staggered to either side of its spine.
- Teeth: Stegosaurus had beaks to shear through leaves and plants, with a mouth full of smaller peg-shaped teeth.
- Eyesight: Being an animal of prey, this dinosaur had eyes on the sides of its head to detect threats in a wider area of vision. They likely had poor or average eyesight for a prey animal.
- Smell: Stegosaurus likely had an average sense of smell. Being a prey animal meant it didn’t need to have a good sense of smell to graze on vegetation.
- Hearing: It is difficult to know exactly how well a stegosaurus could hear. But it is speculated that they had ear holes to optimize low-frequency sounds. This would allow them to hear and notice the vibrations, especially of other dinosaurs who were nearby.
What Did Stegosaurus Eat?
The Stegosaurus was a plant-eating dinosaur, called a herbivore.
Having a downward tilting posture and a low-hanging head, they would have eaten low plants such as:
- ferns
- Horsetails
- Cycads
- Conifers
- various mosses
Unlike other longer-necked dinosaurs that could reach higher plants or were strong enough to knock over trees and such, the Stegosaurus was stooped low, and thus limited in its diet.
Additional Facts
- Lived among other dinosaurs: The stegosaurus lived among the following dinosaurs: Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Camarasaurus, and Allosaurus. The Allosaurus was actually its main predator
- Smallest Brain: The Stegosaurus had the smallest brain of the large dinosaurs, roughly the size of a plum.
- Tail Spikes: The stegosaurus can have 4-10 spikes on its tail, the collection of which is called a thagomizer.
- Armored to the Bone: The stegosaurus couldn’t flee its predators because it couldn’t run at all due to its body restrictions. Instead, it had its large plates, tail spikes, and an extremely bony neck to protect itself.
- What are the Plates for? Scientists are still speculating on the purpose of the plates. Scientists assume that the plates may have been used to scare off predators as well as to regulate body temperature. There is proof that blood vessels could have run through the plates to cool off the stegosaurus.
By Tim Evanson – https://www.flickr.com/photos/23165290@N00/9322397827/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27595346