Stegosaurus is a genus of herbivorous, four-legged, armored dinosaur from the Late Jurassic, characterized by the distinctive kite-shaped upright plates along their backs and spikes on their tails. Fossils of the genus have been found in the western United States and in Portugal, where they are found in Kimmeridgian- to Tithonian-aged strata, dating to between 155 and 145 million years ago. Of the species that have been classified in the upper Morrison Formation of the western US, only three are universally recognized: S. stenops, S. ungulatus and S. sulcatus. The remains of over 80 individual animals of this genus have been found. Stegosaurus would have lived alongside dinosaurs such as Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Camarasaurus and Allosaurus, the latter of which may have preyed on it.
Ankylosauria is a group of herbivorous dinosaurs of the clade Ornithischia. It includes the great majority of dinosaurs with armor in the form of bony osteoderms, similar to turtles. Ankylosaurs were bulky quadrupeds, with short, powerful limbs. They are known to have first appeared in the Middle Jurassic, and persisted until the end of the Cretaceous Period. The two main families of Ankylosaurs, Nodosauridae and Ankylosauridae are primarily known from the Northern Hemisphere, but the more basal Parankylosauria are known from southern Gondwana during the Cretaceous.
Kentrosaurus is a genus of stegosaurid dinosaur from the Late Jurassic in Lindi Region of Tanzania. The type species is K. aethiopicus, named and described by German palaeontologist Edwin Hennig in 1915. Often thought to be a "primitive" member of the Stegosauria, several recent cladistic analyses find it as more derived than many other stegosaurs, and a close relative of Stegosaurus from the North American Morrison Formation within the Stegosauridae.
Hesperosaurus is a herbivorous stegosaurian dinosaur from the Kimmeridgian age of the Jurassic period, approximately 156 million years ago.
Wuerhosaurus is a genus of stegosaurid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of China and Mongolia. As such, it was one of the last genera of stegosaurians known to have existed.
Lexovisaurus is a genus of stegosaur from mid-to-Late Jurassic Europe, 165.7-164.7 mya. Fossils of limb bones and armor fragments have been found in middle to late Jurassic-aged strata of England and France.
Stegosauria is a group of herbivorous ornithischian dinosaurs that lived during the Jurassic and early Cretaceous periods. Stegosaurian fossils have been found mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, predominantly in what is now North America, Europe, Africa, South America and Asia. Their geographical origins are unclear; the earliest unequivocal stegosaurian, Bashanosaurus primitivus, was found in the Bathonian Shaximiao Formation of China.
Craterosaurus was a genus of stegosaurid dinosaur. It lived during the Early Cretaceous around 121-113 million years ago. Its fossils were found in the Woburn Sands Formation of England. Craterosaurus may actually be a junior synonym of Regnosaurus, but only one fossil, a partial vertebra, was recovered.
The Barun Goyot Formation is a geological formation dating to the Late Cretaceous Period. It is located within and is widely represented in the Gobi Desert Basin, in the Ömnögovi Province of Mongolia.
Dorsetisaurus is a genus of extinct lizard, known from the Late Jurassic of North America, and the Late Jurassic-earliest Cretaceous of Europe. The genus was first reported from the Early Cretaceous (Berriasian) Lulworth Formation of the Purbeck Group of Durlston Bay, in Dorset. It has also been reported from the Late Jurassic aged Alcobaça Formation of Portugal, the Aptian-Albian Dzunbain Formation of Mongolia, and the Morrison Formation of Western North America present in stratigraphic zones 2, 4, and 5. It is considered the oldest widely accepted member of Anguimorpha. based on the presence of 11 shared synapomorphies.
The Luohandong Formation is an Early Cretaceous geologic formation of the Ordos Basin in Inner Mongolia, China. The formation was initially dated to the earliest Cretaceous; Valanginian to Barremian, but later dating established an Aptian to Albian age. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. Pterosaur fossils have also been recovered from the formation.
Alcovasaurus, alternatively known as Miragaia longispinus, is a genus of herbivorous stegosaurian dinosaur that lived in the Late Jurassic. It was found in the Morrison Formation of Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. The type species is Stegosaurus longispinus, later given the genus Alcovasaurus.
This timeline of stegosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the stegosaurs, the iconic plate-backed, spike-tailed herbivorous eurypod dinosaurs that predominated during the Jurassic period. The first scientifically documented stegosaur remains were recovered from Early Cretaceous strata in England during the mid-19th century. However, they would not be recognized as a distinct group of dinosaurs until Othniel Charles Marsh described the new genus and species Stegosaurus armatus in 1877, which he regarded as the founding member of the Stegosauria. This new taxon originally included all armored dinosaurs. It was not until 1927 that Alfred Sherwood Romer implemented the modern use of the name Stegosauria as specifically pertaining to the plate-backed and spike-tailed dinosaurs.
This timeline of ankylosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the ankylosaurs, quadrupedal herbivorous dinosaurs who were protected by a covering bony plates and spikes and sometimes by a clubbed tail. Although formally trained scientists did not begin documenting ankylosaur fossils until the early 19th century, Native Americans had a long history of contact with these remains, which were generally interpreted through a mythological lens. The Delaware people have stories about smoking the bones of ancient monsters in a magic ritual to have wishes granted and ankylosaur fossils are among the local fossils that may have been used like this. The Native Americans of the modern southwestern United States tell stories about an armored monster named Yeitso that may have been influenced by local ankylosaur fossils. Likewise, ankylosaur remains are among the dinosaur bones found along the Red Deer River of Alberta, Canada where the Piegan people believe that the Grandfather of the Buffalo once lived.
Bashanosaurus is an extinct genus of stegosaurian dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Shaximiao Formation of Yunyang County, China. The genus contains a single species, Bashanosaurus primitivus, known from incomplete skeletons belonging to three individuals. It is one of the basalmost stegosaurs, as well as one of the oldest known stegosaurs, along with Adratiklit, Isaberrysaura, and Thyreosaurus.
Yanbeilong is an extinct genus of stegosaurian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Albian) Zuoyun Formation of Shanxi, China. The type and only species is Y. ultimus. It is considered one of the youngest definitive records of the group, alongside Mongolostegus from Mongolia and possible Stegosaurus remains from the Hekou Group of China, both of which date to the Aptian–Albian.
The Dzunbain Formation is a geological formation in Mongolia, dating to the Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian). The formation contains fossils of mammals, reptiles, turtles and dinosaurs. The Dzunbain Formation is equivalent to the Khuren Dukh Formation.
Baiyinosaurus is an extinct genus of stegosaurian dinosaurs from the Middle Jurassic Wangjiashan Formation of China. The genus contains a single species, B. baojiensis, known from a partial skeleton including cranial bones. The skeletal anatomy of Baiyinosaurus demonstrates transitional features between basal thyreophorans and stegosaurs. While many stegosaurs are known from China, Baiyinosaurus is the only one currently named from Gansu Province.
