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32 Fun Stegosaurus Facts for Kids
If your kids love the Jurassic Park dinosaurs, they will love these Stegosaurus facts for kids. Here, you will learn simple facts, physical characteristics, and about fossils of stegosaurus. After reading these facts, you’ll see how the Stegosaurus can be easily recognized.
Stegosaurus Fun Facts
While there are over 700 identified and named species of dinosaurs, the Stegosaurus is one of the most popular. The Tyrannosaurus Rex, Brachiosaurus, Velociraptor, and Triceratops are also species of dinosaurs that are popular and common amongst young children. They are often the ones you see in toy stores, in books, and on children’s clothes and bedding.
Not only are the Stegosaurus’ popular dinosaurs, but they are also incredibly interesting —both for children and adults. They have giant, bony plates along their back. Some scientists think these were for protection and others think they were just there to help them regulate body temperature. Either way, there are so many different and interesting facts to learn about these prehistoric creatures. And there will be much more to learn over time. Science keeps growing and so does the knowledge about dinosaurs!
With them being so popular and so easily recognizable, they deserve attention and a post dedicated to facts solely about their life and history. While we may think all dinosaurs lived similarly, different species lived their lives very differently! This post is dedicated to learning all about the Stegosaurus and how they lived their lives millions of years ago.
Fun and Easy Stegosaurus Facts for Kids
These facts are simple and easy to remember. If you are wanting brief and to-the-point facts for younger children, these are perfect! They are also a great starting point for someone who is just staring a dinosaur project.
- The Stegosaurus dinosaur lived about 150 million years ago!
- The Stegosaurus was alive during the late Jurassic Period and the Early Cretaceous Period.
- Stegosaurus means “roof lizard”.
- The Stegosaurus brain was about the size of a walnut! That is a small brain!
- These dinosaurs are known for the rows of big bony plates sitting along their back.
- The Stegosaurus was a herbivore. This means they were a plant eater!
- The Stegosaurus did not have very many teeth!
- This dinosaur walked on all four legs!
- The first fossil of stegosaurus was discovered by Othniel Marsh in 1877.
- The first Stegosaurus fossil was found in Colorado. As a result, the US state of Colorado has named this as the “state dinosaur of Colorado”.
- I can’t get over the size of its brain. How the brain of a stegosaurus be so small yet it is such a massive dinosaur? And; how about those bony plates on their back? Those are called s. stenops. They are often a young child’s favorite part of these large dinosaurs.
Stegosaurus Physical Characteristics
One of the main factors that makes the Stegosaurus so notable is its back! It has large bony plates down the entire body. Scientists say these rows of unique bones could have been three feet long! Here are some facts about those interesting bony plates and other key physical features.
- The Stegosaurus was about thirty feet long. This means they were about the size of a school bus.
- The Stegosaurus was about fourteen feet tall.
- The Stegosaurus weighed about three to seven tons! This is around the weight of the average car!
- Some of these dinosaurs had two spikes at the end of its tail. Some had a four count cluster of lethal spikes.
- The tail of the stegosaurus , with triangular plates, was used for defense.
- The Stegosaurus dinosaurs could live for a very long time. Many lived to be between 75 and 100 years old!
- These dinosaurs had a very short neck and small head. This means that most of its meals probably came from the ground.
- The Stegosaurus did not have very many teeth. The ones that they did have were flat and smooth. They did not need sharp teeth because they ate plant matter .
- They had very large and thick legs. This meant that they were often very slow. A stegosaurus had a maximum speed of five miles an hour!
More Fun Stegosaurus Facts
If you are looking to dive a little deeper into the world of the Stegosaurus, these facts are for you. While worded simply for growing minds, they are still chock full of amazing information!
- While the Stegosaurus was known to have mostly walked on all four legs, some scientists think they may have sometimes stood up on their hind legs. This could have helped them reach a tall, large plant, and they could use their front legs for balance.
- Othniel Marsh was the person to discover the first Stegosaurus fossil in 1877. He thought that the bony plates on its back looked like the tiles of a roof. So, he decided to combine the Greek word “stegos” with the Greek word “saurus”. “Stegos” means roof. “Saurus” means lizard. So, the word Stegosaurus means “roofed lizard”!
- The Stegosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex did not live during the same time periods! The Stegosaurus lived before the T-Rex did.
- Scientists believe that the Stegosaurus was very slow. So, it had to use its tail and tail spikes for defense!
- The tail spikes and bony plates along the back of a stegosaurus could be over 3 feet high! Some scientists think that the bony plates were there for defense and were protective plates. Others think that they were there to help the dinosaur regulate their body temperature!
- These dinosaurs lived together in herds. Young and old dinosaurs would have been mixed all together. This helped protect younger dinosaurs from predators.
- The Stegosaurus is a part of a group of dinosaurs called Thyreophorans. These were all armored dinosaurs. Armored dinosaurs were those that had different types of bony plates on their bodies to protect themselves!
- The spiked tail of a Stegosaurus has been named a Thagomizer!
- Stegosaurus dinosaurs would intentionally eat small rocks. These rocks helped “chew” or crush the plants that they ate in their stomach. They did not have very sharp teeth!
- Some scientists think that the Stegosaurus dinosaur had a second brain. They think it may have been on their butt!
- The Stegosaurus dinosaurs ate plants, but the Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus are two dinosaurs that would have preyed on the Stegosaurus.
- The bony plates on their back were not actual bones – they were not part of the skeleton. They grew out of their skin! However, they were very hard and bone-like.
Before you go, here are more posts you’ll enjoy:
37 Fun Dinosaur Facts for Kids
93 Best Dinosaur Gifts for Kids
15 Awesome Dinosaur Books for Kids
