
Fun Facts About Stegosaurus
Stegosaurus was a large, slow-moving herbivore that lived during the Late Jurassic period. It used its spiked tail to defend itself and is well-known for the distinctive kite-shaped plates along its back. Some scientists believe the bony plates helped regulate body temperature. Here are some more fun facts about the Stegosaurus:
- Its name means ‘roof lizard’ because the plates on its back were originally believed to lie flat like tiles.
- The large kite-shaped plates along its back were embedded in the skin instead of the skeleton, which is why Stegosaurus plates are often separated from the body when fossils are found.
- Stegosaurus lived 155-145 million years ago.
- The first Stegosaurus fossils were discovered during the Bone Wars of the 1870s. This was a period of intense fossil hunting in the United States.
- This dinosaur walked on four legs that were large and thick. It was very slow with a maximum speed of 5 miles per hour.
- Stegosaurus couldn’t outrun predators, but it could use tail spikes efficiently as weapons to defend itself. In fact, paleontologists have discovered an Allosaurus specimen with a large puncture mark likely created by a Stegosaurus tail spike.
- Instead of front teeth, it had a beak and small cheek teeth with ridged surfaces to grind plant material.
- The Stegosaurus had a short neck and small head, so most of its meals probably came from low growing plants.
- Skulls show the Stegosaurus had a small brain cavity. Its brain was about the size of a walnut.
- It could be 21-30 feet long, 9-13 feet tall, and weigh up to 11,000 pounds.
The Stegosaurus might not have been fast or super smart with its disproportionate brain to body ratio, but it was successful. In fact, many Stegosauruses lived 75-100 years! Nevertheless, the Stegosaurus went extinct about 145 million years ago, likely due to changes in the climate and environment during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous periods.
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