The stegosaurus was an herbivorous quadruped known for its rounded back and its double row of back plates that end with a a double pair of spikes on this dinosaur’s tail. This dinosaur was first discovered in 1877 by Othniel Charles Marsh during the Great Dinosaur Rush—also known as the Bone Wars. Because this dinosaur had armored plates that seemed shingled, it was given the name Stegosaurus, which means “roofed lizard”.
This dinosaur had 60 razor sharp teeth, each up to 9 inches long
A large adult could weigh about 5 tons, and measure up to 29 feet long, 14 feet tall
This creature could travel at a maximum speed of up to 5 miles per hour
Stegosaurus were short, stalky plant-eaters that lived in the late Jurassic Period, about 155 to 150 million years ago. Other familiar dinos that lived in this time period, were the Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Brachiosaurus, Allosaurus, and Ceratosaurus. Their plate-like bones on their back were actually skin that became hard over time, working as armor for the dinosaur. These plates were about 2 feet wide and 60 centimeters tall. Stegosaurus had two rows of these plates, paired with spikes to defend themselves. The spikes on the tails of some stegosaurus species have come to be known as thagomizers.
The name Thagomizer actually came from a cartoon by Gary Larson called the Far Side. In 1982 one of Larsons cartoons featured a stegosaurus with parts labeled. The tail spikes were labeled Thagomizers which of course at the time was a made up term from the brain of Gary Larson. Over time paleontologists adopted the name and it has become the accepted term.
The first fossils of this kind were discovered by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1877, near Morrison Colorado. They were found during a competitive battle for fossil discovery, called the Bone Wars, or the Great Dinosaur Rush.
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