Dinosaurs

Stegosaurus is a genus of stegosaurid armoured dinosaur from the Late Jurassic period (Kimmeridgian to Early Tithonian) in what is now western North America. In 2006, a specimen of Stegosaurus was announced from Portugal, suggesting that they were present in Europe as well.[1] Due to its distinctive tail spikes and plates, Stegosaurus is one of the most recognisable dinosaurs, along with Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, and Apatosaurus. The name Stegosaurus means "roof-lizard" and is derived from the Greek στέγος-, stegos- ("roof") and σαῦρος, -sauros ("lizard").[2] At least three species have been identified in the upper Morrison Formation and are known from the remains of about 80 individuals. They lived some 155 to 145 million years ago, in an environment and time dominated by the giant sauropods Diplodocus, Camarasaurus, and Apatosaurus.
A large, heavily-built and herbivorous quadruped, Stegosaurus had a distinctive and unusual posture, with a heavily-arched back, short forelimbs, head held low to the ground and a stiffened tail held high in the air. Its array of plates and spikes have been the subject of much speculation. The spikes were most likely used for defence, while the plates have also been proposed as a defensive mechanism, as well as having display and thermoregulatory (heat control) functions. Stegosaurus was the largest of all the stegosaurians (bigger than genera such as Kentrosaurus and Huayangosaurus) and, although roughly bus-sized, it nonetheless shared many anatomical features (including the tail spines and plates) with the other stegosaurian genera.




Stegosaurus
Fossil range: Late Jurassic


圖片參考：http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Ba%C5%82t%C3%B3w_Park_Jurajski_001.jpg/250px-Ba%C5%82t%C3%B3w_Park_Jurajski_001.jpg

Model Stegosaurus, Bałtów Jurassic Park, Poland.

Conservation status


Extinct (fossil)

Scientific classification





Kingdom:
Animalia

Phylum:
Chordata

Class:
Sauropsida

Superorder:
Dinosauria

Order:
Ornithischia

Suborder:
Thyreophora

Infraorder:
Stegosauria

Family:
Stegosauridae

Genus:
Stegosaurus
Marsh, 1877

Species



S. armatus Marsh, 1877 (type)
S. stenops Marsh, 1887
S. longispinus Gilmore, 1914
Description



The size of a Stegosaurus compared to a human.
Averaging around 9 metres (30 ft) long and 4 metres (14 ft) tall, the quadrupedal Stegosaurus is one of the most easily-identifiable dinosaurs, due to the distinctive double row of kite-shaped plates rising vertically along its arched back and the two pairs of long spikes extending horizontally near the end of its tail. Although a large-bodied animal, it was dwarfed by its contemporaries, the giant sauropods. Some form of armour appears to have been necessary, as it coexisted with large predatory theropod dinosaurs, such as the fearsome Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus.

Contents[hide]

1 Description
2 Classification

2.1 Origins
3 Discovery and species

3.1 Valid species
3.2 Nomina dubia (dubious names)
3.3 Reassigned species
4 Palaeobiology

4.1 "Second brain"
4.2 Plates
4.3 Thagomizer (tail spikes)
5 Diet
6 Popular culture
7 See also
8 Footnotes
9 External links