Loricatosaurus

In Depth        Loricatosaurus was named as part of a study that concluded that the type species of Lexovisaurus was based upon un-diagnostic material,‭ ‬and that other remains cannot be attributed to it.‭ ‬Although many palaeontologists still treat Lexovisaurus as a valid genus,‭ ‬many of the fossils once assigned to it have now been named as … Read more

Huayangosaurus

In Depth        With fossils going back to the mid Jurassic,‭ ‬it comes as no surprise that Huayangosaurus is a more primitive stegosaur than better known genera from the late Jurassic.‭ ‬The skull of Huayangosaurus is broader than later forms which reveals it was not as well adapted to selective browsing.‭ ‬The premaxilla also still has … Read more

Regnosaurus

In Depth        The holotype fossil of a partial jaw of Regnosaurus was recovered by Gideon Mantell who considered it to belong to an unknown large prehistoric animal.‭ ‬Mantell would later name his animal Igaunodon,‭ ‬though it was still referred to as a big lizard since the word dinosaur had still not been invented.‭ ‬Mantell realised … Read more

Chungkingosaurus

In Depth        As stegosaurs go Chungkingosaurus was towards the smaller end of the scale at four meters long.‭ ‬The hips and humerus‭ (‬upper arm bone‭) ‬of Chungkingosaurus seem to be quite primitive when compared to other stegosaurs.‭ ‬The skull is also deep which might be a relict primitive trait,‭ ‬or an adaptation for supporting stronger … Read more

Kentrosaurus

kentrosaurus

In Depth        After Stegosaurus itself,‭ ‬Kentrosaurus is easily the best known of the stegosaurs.‭ Many herbivores were known to have herded,‭ ‬and support for this in Kentrosaurus comes from the massive collection of bones from the‭ ‬Tendaguru beds.‭ ‬Like other Stegosaurs,‭ ‬Kentrosaurus was considered to be a low browser,‭ ‬although it‭’‬s considered possible for Kentrosaurus … Read more

Wuerhosaurus

wuerhosaurus

In Depth        Wuerhosaurus is currently the latest surviving known member of the stegosaur group.‭ ‬In being so,‭ ‬the temporal range of these kinds of dinosaurs has been significantly extended up to the middle Cretaceous,‭ ‬forty-five million years after their Jurassic heyday.        Unfortunately Wuerhosaurus is only represented by partial remains,‭ ‬making accurate reconstruction of this stegosaurid … Read more

Chialingosaurus

In Depth        So far only known from a partial skeleton,‭ ‬Chialingosaurus was still one of the first and hence most important stegosaur discoveries to take place in Asia.‭ ‬At up to four meters long it seems to have been small but comparable in size to Chungkingosaurus that is also known from the Shaximiao Formation.‭ ‬However … Read more

Stegosaurus

Stegosaurus

In Depth        With its distinctive back plates,‭ ‬Stegosaurus is one of the best represented dinosaurs in popular culture today.‭ ‬Initially thought to just live in the USA,‭ ‬a partial skeleton discovered in‭ ‬2006‭ ‬places Stegosaurus in Portugal.‭ ‬This has significantly increased the known range of this animal and further reinforced the theory that North America … Read more

Paranthodon

In Depth        Paranthodon remains were first described when they were incorrectly included with the remains of a parieasaur named Anthodon.‭ ‬The inclusion of these remains also gave the incorrect identification for Anthodon as a dinosaur instead of a parieasaur until‭ ‬1912‭ ‬when Robert Broom separated an upper jaw from the genus.‭ ‬While Broom correctly identified … Read more

Alcovasaurus

In Depth        In‭ ‬1914‭ ‬the palaeontologist Charles Whitney Gilmore described a new species of Stegosaurus which he named S.‭ ‬longispinus.‭ ‬The name was chosen as a reflection of the unusually large tail spines that were much longer than those seen in other Stegosaurus fossils.‭ ‬For many years however the validity of S.‭ ‬longispinus was called … Read more