What does the stegosaurus eat

Description, Habitat, Image, Diet, and Interesting Facts

The Stegosaurus is another famous dinosaur species that has captivated our imagination. Much of their notoriety comes from their odd, and intriguing, appearance.

The name Stegosaurus roughly translates to “roof lizard,” which only makes sense if you know what they look like! These dinosaurs had large flattened plates along the ridges of their backs. Read on to learn about the stegosaurus.

Description of the Stegosaurus

There were three different species of Stegosaurus, but all were relatively similar looking. Overall, these creatures were short, stout, and powerfully built. They walked on four short legs, had small heads, and long tails capped with defensive spines.

A line of flattened, plate-like spines ran down their backs. The largest species could grow nearly 30 ft. long and weigh up to 7 metric tons.

Interesting Facts About the Stegosaurus

Though they were large by our standards, the other dinosaurs that roamed while Stegosaurus was alive dwarfed it. Simply put, 150 million years ago, some incredibly large creatures walked the earth. Learn how Stegosaurus survived below.

• Plate Debate – Scientists still aren’t quite sure what the large plates along the back of this dinosaur were actually used Though some believe the plates functioned as armor, many debate this, as the plates leave the sides of the animal unprotected. Other theories include making the animal look bigger, sexual displays, and thermoregulation.
• Thagomizer – These creatures weren’t without defenses. At the end of their tail they had four pointed spikes. Stegosaurus’ tail was extremely muscular, and they could forcibly swing these tail spikes into potential predators.
• Cheeky Chewer– Stegosaurus was one of the very first creatures to develop primitive cheeks. The development of cheeks allowed creatures to thoroughly chew their food before swallowing. This gave them the ability to eat more vegetation than other herbivores at the time, because the food was pre-digested when it hit the stomach.
• Butt Brain – These dinosaurs did not have the largest brains. In fact, they had one of the smallest brains of all dinosaurs in comparison to their body size. At one point, this actually led scientists to speculate that they might have additional brain matter in an area near their hips. Basically, they theorized that Stegosaurus had a brain near its butt. While this is possible, it is highly unlikely.

Habitat of the Stegosaurus

Fossils of this dinosaur are actually relatively rare, and because of this we can only speculate the other habitats this creature lived in. Archaeologists found the most specimens in the Morrison Formation, which we have decent information about the ecosystem of during that time.

We know they lived in areas that were semiarid, with a wet season and a dry season. There were flat floodplains, savannas dominated by ferns and the occasional tree, and forests.

Distribution of the Stegosaurus

Determining the extent of this creature’s range is difficult to do, because their fossils are somewhat rare. Researchers found many North American specimens in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. They found other fossils in Europe, China, Africa, and India. This suggests that the different Stegosaurus species were relatively widespread.

Diet of the Stegosaurus

We know that this dinosaur was herbivorous based upon its teeth. However, it has some pretty oddly shaped teeth and jaws. Scientists aren’t exactly sure how they chewed and foraged for food, because their mouth is simply, weird.

They do estimate that they fed on a number of different plant types, including ferns, moss, fruits, cycads, conifers, and horsetails. Grasses did not evolve until much later, so these dinosaurs would never have grazed on grasses.

Stegosaurus and Human Interaction

Stegosaurus went extinct around 150 million years ago, and never lived while humans were on earth. The only interactions between Stegosaurus and humans are in movies and television. These are, of course, digital or animatronic dinosaurs.

Domestication

Humans never domesticated Stegosaurus in any way, and never interacted with these extinct creatures.

Does the Stegosaurus Make a Good Pet

Even if they were alive, Stegosaurus would not make a good pet. They are somewhat small for dinosaurs, but they are definitely way too big to live in your house! It would be blatantly impossible to own one as a pet, even in theory.

Stegosaurus Care

In a zoological setting, these creatures would probably require care similar to rhinos or elephants. They are powerful animals, and would need strongly reinforced fencing for their enclosures.

Browsing on a wide variety of plants would be essential. Because they had very small brains, reliance on environmental enrichment would be much less pressing than in hyper-intelligent species like elephants.

Behavior of the Stegosaurus

Unfortunately, fossils do not provide much insight into the behavior of an animal. We can use rock formations to determine habitat, and damaged fossils to speculate interactions between animals, but beyond that all behavior is speculative.

These creatures were large, and had incredibly small brains. It is likely that their life consisted pretty much of slowly searching for food, and defending themselves from predators.

Reproduction of the Stegosaurus

We know very little about the reproduction of these dinosaurs. Scientists believe they reproduced sexually, via mating, and laid eggs. Some theories suggest that the large plates on their back could change color as a mating display or to attract a female. As to the number of eggs, incubation time, and parental care, we simply don’t know yet.

Dinosaur eating habit insights from Stegosaurus stenops

NEWS

By Katie Pavid

First published 20 May 2016

New tests carried out on the Museum's Stegosaurus skull provide ground-breaking insights into the lifestyles of herbivorous dinosaurs.

CT scans of the Stegosaurus stenops specimen have helped researchers piece together the eating habits of different herbivores.

The specimen - the most complete stegosaur in the world - was acquired by the Museum in 2014.

New research, published in Scientific Reports, compares the dinosaur's skull to those of Plateosaurus and Erlikosaurus.

The skulls of the three dinosaurs look remarkably similar, but scientists found that each one ate in a very different way.

Professor Paul Barrett, a Museum palaeobiologist who leads the research team working on the Stegosaurus, says:

'Our key finding really surprised us. We expected that many of these dinosaur herbivores would have skulls that worked in broadly similar ways.

'Instead, we found that even though the skulls were fairly similar to each other in overall shape, the way they worked during biting was substantially different in each case.

'This information allows us to understand more about their different feeding specialisms.'

Plant eaters

Several groups of dinosaurs developed plant-based diets independently of each other, despite being unrelated and having very different body shapes. Some walked on all fours, others on their hind limbs only, and others developed long necks.  

The Stegosaurus skeleton on display in the Museum's Earth Hall is the most complete in the world

However, many of these herbivores had long, narrow skulls, scissor-like jaw actions and similar arrangements of teeth.

The study investigated the skulls of specimens from three groups - sauropodomorphs, theropods, and ornithischians. The Museum's Stegosaurus stenops specimen represented the ornithischians.

Barrett says, 'Although Stegosaurus has been known about for more than 130 years, not much is known about its biology.

'Because the Museum's skeleton is almost complete - and three-dimensional - we can do a lot of things that have not been possible until now.

'The bones in our specimen's skull are separated from each other, so we can see how the skull fits together in 3D. We can then use this information to see how the skull would work as a chewing machine.'

A powerful bite

Digital models were made of the skulls and lower jaws, using CT scans of the original specimens.

The results show that, despite their similar skulls and teeth, the biomechanical behaviours of the dinosaurs are notably different.

A digital model of the skull of Stegosaurus stenops, showing which areas experience stress during eating. Yellow and red show high stress areas, and blues and greens show areas of low stress. © Stephan Lautenschlager, University of Bristol.

Their biomechanics probably reflect dietary specialisations and differing feeding habits.

In turn, these distinct feeding habits might reflect the vegetation available in their local environment.

Researchers found that Stegosaurus had a particularly powerful bite for a herbivorous dinosaur.

Barrett said, 'The high bite force of Stegosaurus was another surprise. It was much stronger than previously suspected.

'We found that far from being feeble, Stegosaurus actually had a bite force within the range of living herbivorous mammals, such as sheep and cows. '

More on the menu

The shape of the Stegosaurus skull allowed for more jaw muscle mass than the other herbivores. This meant a more efficient conversion of muscle strength into the force of the bite.

The research shows that Stegosaurus would have been capable of foraging on a wide variety of plants, including ferns and cycads.

It probably had access to a wider range of potential food sources than Plateosaurus, which would have relied on more tender vegetation.

Erlikosaurus had a skull that was specialised to exploit its beak-like tip.

Barrett said, 'It is very tempting to assume that because the skulls of these dinosaurs were very similar, their feeding habits were also the same. But our data indicate this was not the case.

'These computer-based methods give us detailed insights into dinosaur biology that were not previously possible, and this represents the first ever detailed study of feeding in Stegosaurus. '

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Dinosaur Stegosaurus. Report, message, photo, video

Order - Ornithischians

Family - Stegosaurus 900 9009 Species Genus

11 Stegosaurus stenops. Stegosaurus

Basic data:

Length: up to 9 m.

Weight: 6-8 tons.

Head length: about 45 cm.

The size of the brain: 3 cm.

Spinal plates: up to 60 cm high.

tail spikes: length 1 m. 9000