Stegosauridae

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.

Stegosauridae

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
StegosauriaPBDB
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 61 million years on record.

The record covers at least 161.5 Mya to 100.5 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 174.7 Mya to 93.9 Mya.

Early Jurassic — about 0 of 193 occurrencesMiddle Jurassic — about 13 of 193 occurrencesMiddle JurassicLate Jurassic — about 166 of 193 occurrencesLate JurassicEarly Cretaceous — about 14 of 193 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 1 of 193 occurrencesLate Cretaceous176–174 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences174–171 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences171–168 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences168–165 Mya — about 4 occurrences165–162 Mya — about 7 occurrences162–160 Mya — about 3 occurrences160–157 Mya — about 2 occurrences157–154 Mya — about 10 occurrences154–151 Mya — about 34 occurrences151–148 Mya — about 45 occurrences148–146 Mya — about 42 occurrences146–143 Mya — about 32 occurrences143–140 Mya — about 2 occurrences140–137 Mya — about 2 occurrences137–134 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences134–131 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences131–129 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences129–126 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences126–123 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences123–120 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences120–117 Mya — about 1 occurrence117–115 Mya — about 1 occurrence115–112 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences112–109 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences109–106 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences106–103 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences103–101 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences101–98 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences98–95 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences95–92 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences161.5 Mya100.5 Mya176 Mya92 Mya

193 occurrences of Stegosauridae 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

193 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

30 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 — 38.85°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°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 — 40.35°N, 0.93°WLourinhã — 39.45°N, 9.21°WLourinhã — 39.24°N, 9.27°WLourinhã — 39.35°N, 9.32°WShaximiao — 28.35°N, 104.78°EShaximiao — 27.79°N, 105.29°EShaximiao — 29.56°N, 106.55°EShaximiao — 30.14°N, 106.45°EShaximiao — 31.08°N, 106.62°EAlcobaça — 39.66°N, 8.81°WAlcobaça — 39.60°N, 8.82°WAlcobaça — 39.89°N, 8.61°WArgiles 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°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°WDzunbain — 43.88°N, 111.43°EEl Mers III — 33.15°N, 5.12°WEl Mers III — 33.32°N, 4.71°WKirkwood — 33.55°S, 26.18°ECalcareous Grit — 54.00°N, 1.50°WKimmeridge Clay — 51.55°N, 1.79°WMarnes à Belemnopsis latesulcatus — 49.13°N, 0.17°WPhu Kradung — 16.87°N, 101.72°EVilligen — 47.31°N, 7.77°EOrnatenton — 52.28°N, 8.76°EPiedrahita de Muñó — 41.87°N, 3.17°WOxford Clay — 52.55°N, 0.24°WShishugou — 44.84°N, 90.06°EMarnes du Chevain — 48.37°N, 0.10°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Stegosauridae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 6 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 7 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Stegosauridae and its relatives

Late Jurassic

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

Found in the same rock

485 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 179 sites for Stegosauridae, and this reads all 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

101 references

Each of the 193 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. 89 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 Stegosauridae

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

3D model

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

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 itStegosauria through timeFormations of the Late JurassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Marsh 1880