One of the many dinosaurs plated in the Late Jurassic period is the Stegosaurus. They belonged to groups of armored dinosaurs and lived in the western parts of North America and Europe (Portugal) 155 to 150 million years ago. They are large, slow plant eaters with powerful pointed tails. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its name comes from the Greek words \"stegos\" meaning roof and \"sauros\" meaning lizard. Othniel Charles Marsh gave the name Stegosaurus meaning \"roof lizard\". <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The name of the Stegosaurus \"Roof Lizard\" is reflected in its appearance. Its plates lay flat along its back, like a form of armor. Thanks to those spikes, it is an excellent way to defend itself against predators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An adult Stegosaurus measured around 9 meters in length, 4 meters in height and up to almost five metric tons in weight. Huge, right? Just imagine them the size of a bus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Given their size, Stegosaurus have a small brain that gave them an extremely low \"encephalization quotient\" or EQ. However, the Stegosaurus is alert enough to avoid predators. Stegosaurus have lived and traveled in herds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stegosaurus spikes are called \"thagomizers\" and this name was coined in 1982 by cartoonist Gary Larson. The term was made because of the arrangement of the stegosaurs' tails of four to ten spikes. It is believed that these spikes of the Stegosaurus were a defensive measure against the predator.\u00a0
There are no findings on the color of the body of the Stegosaurus, but scientist Kenneth Carpenter discovered that the plates turned red when filled with blood.
Stegosaurus belongs to a group of Thyreophora; they were ornithischian herbivorous and armored dinosaurs. In addition, Stegosaurus was the largest and one of the last of the Stegosaurs.
Stegosaurus had 17 plates called shields. These shields were not robust and were made of a hard material called osteoderms. They had web-like structures and blood vessels.