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SUMMARY:The Stegosaurian Dinosaurs - Susannah Maidment\, Natural History M
 useum
DTSTART:20230124T120000Z
DTEND:20230124T130000Z
UID:TALK176978@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Oscar Branson
DESCRIPTION:Stegosaurs are a group of dinosaurs characterized by the posse
 ssion of two rows of plates and spines that extend from the neck to the en
 d of the tail. They are known from the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretac
 eous and have been found on all continents except Australia and Antarctica
 . Stegosaurs are part of a larger group of armoured dinosaurs\, which also
  includes the ankylosaurs. Stegosaurs were four-legged plant-eaters and bo
 dy mass estimates indicate they weighed about the same as a rhino. They we
 re probably slow-moving\, and not capable of running. They had very small 
 teeth and do not appear to have chewed\, but despite this\, their bite for
 ces indicate they could have eaten tough vegetation and small twigs. Sever
 al hypotheses have been put forward about the function of the plates of st
 egosaurs\, but these have proven difficult to test. Different species appe
 ar to have had differently shaped plates\, suggesting a role in display\, 
 and perhaps to deter predators. Two stegosaurs are known from North Americ
 a: the iconic Stegosaurus\, which is known from numerous skeletons from Co
 lorado\, Utah and southern Wyoming\, and the less well-known Hesperosaurus
 \, represented by just a few specimens from northern Wyoming and Montana. 
 Both are known from the Morrison Formation\, a suite of rocks laid down by
  rivers and on flood plains about 150 million years ago\, and the two gene
 ra appear to have lived at the same time. Over 120 years of sampling in th
 e south of the Morrison basin has failed to find any specimens of Hesperos
 aurus there\, perhaps suggesting the two genera were ecologically segregat
 ed. Although stegosaurs are one of the most iconic dinosaurs\, much remain
 s unknown about their palaeobiology due to their sparse fossil record.
LOCATION:Department of Earth Sciences\, Tilley Lecture Theatre
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