Stegosauria

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, Africa and South America. Although their geographical origins are unclear, the earliest unequivocal stegosaurians are known from the Middle Jurassic, including Adratiklit, Bashanosaurus, Isaberrysaura and Thyreosaurus.

Stegosauria

Zhangzhugang · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
EurypodaPBDB
Diet
herbivorePBDB, for Ornithischia
Life habit
ground dwelling, gregariousPBDB, for Ornithischia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Ornithischia
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Ornithischia

Time the record covers

At least 102 million years on record.

The record covers at least 174.7 Mya to 72.2 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 184.2 Mya to 66 Mya.

Early Jurassic — about 1 of 316 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 44 of 316 occurrencesMiddle JurassicLate Jurassic — about 202 of 316 occurrencesLate JurassicEarly Cretaceous — about 64 of 316 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 5 of 316 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 0 of 316 occurrences187–182 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences182–178 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences178–174 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences174–170 Mya — about 5 occurrences170–166 Mya — about 15 occurrences166–162 Mya — about 22 occurrences162–158 Mya — about 7 occurrences158–154 Mya — about 17 occurrences154–150 Mya — about 71 occurrences150–146 Mya — about 72 occurrences146–141 Mya — about 42 occurrences141–137 Mya — about 9 occurrences137–133 Mya — about 8 occurrences133–129 Mya — about 6 occurrences129–125 Mya — about 7 occurrences125–121 Mya — about 15 occurrences121–117 Mya — about 5 occurrences117–113 Mya — about 4 occurrences113–109 Mya — about 2 occurrences109–105 Mya — about 2 occurrences105–101 Mya — about 2 occurrences101–96 Mya — about 1 occurrence96–92 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences92–88 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences88–84 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences84–80 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences80–76 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences76–72 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences72–68 Mya — about 1 occurrence68–64 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences174.7 Mya72.2 Mya187 Mya64 Mya

316 occurrences of Stegosauria on record, most of them in the Late Jurassic. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

316 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

80 formations

Morrison — 42.04°N, 106.39°WMorrison — 42.02°N, 106.05°WMorrison — 43.63°N, 108.20°WMorrison — 40.42°N, 109.21°WMorrison — 40.44°N, 109.30°WMorrison — 39.68°N, 105.19°WMorrison — 41.91°N, 105.96°WMorrison — 38.54°N, 105.22°WMorrison — 41.88°N, 106.11°WMorrison — 44.65°N, 107.82°WMorrison — 42.55°N, 106.69°WMorrison — 38.58°N, 108.40°WMorrison — 36.90°N, 102.83°WMorrison — 36.93°N, 102.97°WMorrison — 41.97°N, 106.29°WMorrison — 41.98°N, 106.14°WMorrison — 39.01°N, 110.37°WMorrison — 44.46°N, 104.73°WMorrison — 39.17°N, 108.77°WMorrison — 44.35°N, 106.70°WMorrison — 41.92°N, 106.36°WMorrison — 39.32°N, 110.69°WMorrison — 42.16°N, 105.91°WMorrison — 39.20°N, 109.04°WMorrison — 39.08°N, 108.65°WMorrison — 44.54°N, 107.78°WMorrison — 42.15°N, 105.89°WMorrison — 40.50°N, 109.17°WMorrison — 44.09°N, 106.78°WMorrison — 40.46°N, 109.52°WMorrison — 38.71°N, 109.74°WMorrison — 44.63°N, 107.81°WMorrison — 45.22°N, 108.83°WMorrison — 39.15°N, 108.77°WMorrison — 44.05°N, 107.46°WMorrison — 38.25°N, 110.81°WMorrison — 38.45°N, 107.40°WMorrison — 38.57°N, 109.45°WMorrison — 38.85°N, 108.48°WMorrison — 44.09°N, 106.87°WMorrison — 40.46°N, 108.39°WMorrison — 34.99°N, 104.17°WMorrison — 45.54°N, 110.62°WMorrison — 46.85°N, 108.79°WMorrison — 39.01°N, 111.02°WMorrison — 44.06°N, 106.72°WMorrison — 35.10°N, 107.23°WMorrison — 44.66°N, 107.85°WMorrison — 41.91°N, 105.95°WMorrison — 40.30°N, 108.57°WMorrison — 39.14°N, 109.02°WMorrison — 47.34°N, 111.19°WTendaguru — 9.71°S, 39.23°ETendaguru — 9.66°S, 39.25°EVillar del Arzobispo — 38.67°N, 0.82°WVillar del Arzobispo — 39.93°N, 1.00°WVillar del Arzobispo — 40.13°N, 1.13°WVillar del Arzobispo — 40.37°N, 0.82°WVillar del Arzobispo — 40.59°N, 0.80°WVillar del Arzobispo — 40.24°N, 1.41°WVillar del Arzobispo — 40.66°N, 0.88°WVillar del Arzobispo — 40.33°N, 1.53°WVillar del Arzobispo — 40.35°N, 0.82°WVillar del Arzobispo — 40.22°N, 0.92°WVillar del Arzobispo — 40.28°N, 0.87°WVillar del Arzobispo — 40.35°N, 0.93°WShaximiao — 29.41°N, 104.85°EShaximiao — 29.43°N, 103.60°EShaximiao — 28.35°N, 104.78°EShaximiao — 27.79°N, 105.29°EShaximiao — 29.56°N, 106.55°EShaximiao — 30.14°N, 106.45°EShaximiao — 29.22°N, 104.71°EShaximiao — 31.08°N, 106.62°EShaximiao — 30.94°N, 108.75°ELourinhã — 39.45°N, 9.21°WLourinhã — 39.28°N, 9.34°WLourinhã — 39.24°N, 9.27°WBroome Sandstone — 17.97°S, 122.18°EBroome Sandstone — 17.49°S, 122.14°EOxford Clay — 52.13°N, 0.46°WOxford Clay — 52.55°N, 0.24°WArtoles — 40.82°N, 0.28°WArtoles — 40.65°N, 0.87°WKimmeridge Clay — 51.55°N, 1.79°WKimmeridge Clay — 51.03°N, 2.27°WKimmeridge Clay — 50.63°N, 2.34°WKimmeridge Clay — 50.59°N, 2.49°WIlek — 55.90°N, 87.96°EIlek — 56.53°N, 91.81°EIlek — 55.97°N, 88.09°EIlek — 56.32°N, 90.47°EChipping Norton Limestone — 51.99°N, 1.80°WChipping Norton Limestone — 51.95°N, 1.75°WEjinhoro — 39.12°N, 109.98°EEjinhoro — 39.36°N, 108.41°ECamarillas — 40.63°N, 0.86°WCamarillas — 40.66°N, 0.87°WSaltwick — 54.49°N, 0.60°WSaltwick — 54.41°N, 0.49°WAlcobaça — 39.66°N, 8.81°WAlcobaça — 39.60°N, 8.82°WAlcobaça — 39.89°N, 8.61°WLastres — 43.48°N, 5.44°WLastres — 43.53°N, 5.47°WBalabansai — 41.25°N, 72.17°EArgiles d'Octeville — 49.56°N, 0.09°EPraia da Amoreira-Porto Novo — 39.37°N, 9.33°WPraia da Amoreira-Porto Novo — 39.17°N, 9.20°WLianmuqin — 46.04°N, 85.79°ELianmuqin — 46.10°N, 85.67°EEl Castellar — 40.65°N, 0.84°WEl Castellar — 40.66°N, 0.87°WMengyin — 35.85°N, 117.95°EMengyin — 35.87°N, 117.95°EFreixial — 39.07°N, 9.28°WFreixial — 39.18°N, 9.33°WCedar Mountain — 39.07°N, 110.99°WCedar Mountain — 38.94°N, 111.11°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Stegosauria has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 56 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 15 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Stegosauria and its relatives

Late Jurassic

Where Stegosauria and its relatives were recorded in the Late Jurassic.

Found in the same rock

761 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 290 sites for Stegosauria, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

184 references

Each of the 316 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 172 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Stegosauria

Credit
Zhangzhugang
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itEurypoda through timeFormations of the Late JurassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Marsh 1877)