Stegosaurus

Name: Stegosaurus‭ (‬Roof lizard‭)‬. Phonetic: Steg-oh-sore-us. Named By: Othniel Charles Marsh‭ ‬-‭ ‬1877. Synonyms: Diracodon,‭ ‬Hypsirhophus. Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,Ornithischia,‭ ‬Thyreophora,‭ ‬Stegosauria,‭ ‬Stegosauridae. Species: S.‭ ‬armatus,‭ ‬S.‭ ‬stenops,‭ ‬S.‭ ‬ungulatus. Type: Herbivore. Size: Larger species such as S. armatus typically about 9 meters long. Smaller species such as S. longispinus and S. stenops about 7 meters long. Isolated remains in the past have led to speculation that rare individuals may have been larger. Known locations: USA, Colorado, Montana, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming, mostly associated with the Morrison Formation. Portugal - Alcobaça Formation. Time period: Kimmeridgian to the Tithonian of the Jurassic. Fossil representation: Many individuals found,‭ ‬Stegosaurus is one of the better represented dinosaurs in the fossil record.

With its distinctive back plates,‭ ‬Stegosaurus is one of the best represented dinosaurs in popular culture today.‭ ‬Initially thought to just live in the USA,‭ ‬a partial skeleton discovered in‭ ‬2006‭ ‬places Stegosaurus in Portugal.‭ ‬This has significantly increased the known range of this animal and further reinforced the theory that North America and Europe would have been connected during this time. Living the life of a low browser in the Jurassic,‭ ‬Stegosaurus seems to have concentrated upon eating soft and leafy vegetation that did not require much effort to chew.‭ ‬Studies have shown that Stegosaurus probably did not have much bite force,‭ ‬but the shape of its teeth would do most of the work for it.‭ ‬Fossilised teeth show extra wear on the sides where they would have been sharpest,‭ ‬meaning all Stegosaurus would have to do is bite onto the plant and pull its head back and its teeth would cut through the soft vegetation. Because of the aforementioned method of eating,‭ ‬Stegosaurus probably relied upon its gut to do the main work in breaking down the plant material for nutrients,‭ ‬and may have swallowed stones for use as gastroliths to aid this process.