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STEGOSAURUS

Stegosaurus stenops

Meaning: "Roofed Lizard"

🌿 Herbivores 🦶 Quadrupedal 🕐 155.0-150.0 Ma

📊 STATS

📏 Length 6.5-9.0m

📐 Height 4.0m

⚖️ Weight 5.0t

💨 Speed 7 km/h

Size comparison:

As long as a school bus!

📖 ABOUT STEGOSAURUS

Meet Stegosaurus, the 'Roofed Lizard'! This gentle giant from the Jurassic period is famous for its back plates and spiky tail. Get ready to explore the world of this amazing herbivore!

Imagine a dinosaur with giant plates sticking up from its back and four pointy spikes on its tail – that's Stegosaurus! This awesome herbivore lived during the Late Jurassic period, munching on plants about 155 to 150 million years ago. Stegosaurus was a quadruped, meaning it walked on all fours, and could grow up to 9 meters long and 4 meters tall. Those back plates weren't just for show! Scientists think they might have helped Stegosaurus control its body temperature, like a giant radiator. And that spiky tail, also known as a 'thagomizer', was definitely used for defense against predators like Allosaurus. Stegosaurus fossils have been found in North America (like Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming) and even in Portugal, showing us that these amazing dinosaurs roamed across continents! Discovered in 1877 by Othniel Charles Marsh, Stegosaurus continues to fascinate paleontologists and dinosaur lovers of all ages.

🔬 CLASSIFICATION

Group: Thyreophora
Family: Stegosauridae
Period: Late Jurassic (163-145 Ma)
Era: 155.0 - 150.0 million years ago

🗺️ DISCOVERY

Year: 1877
Discovered by: Othniel Charles Marsh
Location: Colorado, USA
Fossils found in: USA (Colorado, Utah, Wyoming), Portugal

🎨 SCIENTIFIC ILLUSTRATION

Artistic reconstruction of Stegosaurus based on fossil evidence

🗺️ WHERE FOSSILS WERE FOUND

USA (Colorado, Utah, Wyoming), Portugal

🤓 FUN FACTS

✨ Stegosaurus had a brain the size of a walnut!
✨ The name 'Stegosaurus' means 'roofed lizard' because scientists originally thought its plates lay flat on its back like shingles.
✨ Those cool back plates were different sizes and shapes on each Stegosaurus!
✨ Stegosaurus was a slowpoke, probably only able to run about 7 kilometers per hour.
✨ The 'thagomizer' (tail spikes) is named after a Far Side cartoon character!

💡 DID YOU KNOW?

Get this! Scientists used to think Stegosaurus had a second brain in its hips because its brain was so small! But now they think it just had a larger spinal cord in that area.