PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Stegosauria

Reptilia

Taxonomy

Stegosauria was named by Marsh (1877). It is not extant. It was considered monophyletic by Maidment et al. (2008).

It was reranked as the infraorder Stegosauria by Quenstedt (1882), Van Den Broeck (1900), Ulansky (2014); it was reranked as the order Stegosauria by Dollo (1885), Bakker and Galton (1974); it was synonymized subjectively with Ornithopoda by Lydekker (1888); it was reranked as the superfamily Stegosauria by Zittel (1890), Woodward (1898); it was reranked as the infraorder Stegosauri by Gadow (1897); it was corrected as Stegosauri by Gadow (1898), Gadow (1901), Perrier (1928); it was synonymized subjectively with Stegosauroidea by Hay (1902); it was synonymized subjectively with Stegosauroidae by Hay (1930); it was reranked as the family Stegosauria by Huene (1954); it was reranked as the unranked clade Stegosauria by Baur (1887), Buchholz (2002), Sánchez-Hernández et al. (2007), Butler et al. (2008), Maidment et al. (2008), Han et al. (2012), Dieudonné et al. (2020), Sánchez-Fenollosa et al. (2024), Zafaty et al. (2024).

It was assigned to Reptilia by Marsh (1877) and Marsh (1877); to Dinosauri by Quenstedt (1882); to Dinosauria by Marsh (1881), Marsh (1882), Dollo (1884), Marsh (1885), Lydekker (1885); to Dinosauria by Marsh (1884), Dollo (1885), Winkler (1893); to Predentata by Marsh (1894), Marsh (1895), Marsh (1896); to Ornithopoda by Woodward (1898); to Orthopoda by Baur (1887), Zittel (1890), Gadow (1897), Van Den Broeck (1900), Lull (1912); to Praedentata by Hennig (1915); to Orthopoda by Gadow (1898), Gadow (1901), Perrier (1928); to Enoplosauria by Swinton (1970); to Ornithischia by Bakker and Galton (1974); to Orbitoscuta by Bakker (1986); to Ornithischia by Lull (1915), Matthew (1915), Lull (1921), Lull (1924), Roxo (1937), Kuhn (1946), Lapparent (1947), Romer (1956), Delair (1960), Parsch (1963), Tatarinov (1964), Kuhn (1964), Kuhn (1966), Romer (1966), Charig (1967), Thulborn (1971), Delair (1973), Krebs (1974), Bonaparte (1978), Benton (1979), Ostrom (1980), McIntosh (1981), McGinnis (1982), Russell (1984), Maryanska and Osmólska (1985), Carroll (1988), Galton (1990), Chure et al. (2006); to Eurypoda by Sereno (1986), Benton (1990), Sereno (1998), Sereno (1999), Galton and Upchurch (2004), Norman et al. (2004), Maidment et al. (2006), Maidment et al. (2008); to Thyreophora by Huene (1954), Weishampel (2004), Butler et al. (2008), Ulansky (2014); to Thyreophora by Buchholz (2002), Sánchez-Hernández et al. (2007), Han et al. (2012), Dieudonné et al. (2020), Sánchez-Fenollosa et al. (2024); and to Ornithischia by Swinton (1934), Zafaty et al. (2024).

Year	Name and author
1848	Regnosaurus Mantell pp. 198-199
1848	Regnosaurus northamptoni Mantell p. 199
1851	Regnosaurus northamptoni Mantell p. 333
1853	Regnosaurus Pictet p. 474
1853	Regnosaurus northamptoni Pictet p. 474
1854	Regnosaurus northamptoni Mantell p. 705
1874	Craterosaurus Seeley
1874	Craterosaurus pottonensis Seeley p. 692
1876	Craterosaurus pottonensis Sauvage p. 440
1877	Stegosauria Marsh
1881	Stegosauria Marsh
1882	Stegosauria Marsh
1882	Stegosauria Quenstedt p. 188
1884	Stegosauria Dollo p. 298
1884	Stegosauria Marsh p. 68
1885	Stegosauria Dollo p. 35
1885	Stegosauria Lydekker p. 37
1885	Stegosauria Marsh p. 764
1887	Stegosauria Baur p. 101
1887	Omosaurus durobrivensis Hulke p. 376 fig. 2
1888	Regnosaurus Lydekker p. 53
1888	Regnosaurus northamptoni Lydekker p. 184
1890	Craterosaurus pottonensis Woodward and Sherborn p. 223
1890	Omosaurus durobrivensis Woodward and Sherborn p. 253
1890	Regnosaurus northamptoni Woodward and Sherborn p. 280
1890	Craterosaurus Zittel p. 727
1890	Stegosauria Zittel p. 740
1890	Regnosaurus Zittel p. 743
1890	Omosaurus durobrivensis Zittel p. 748
1893	Omosaurus durobrivensis Seeley p. 54
1893	Stegosauria Winkler p. 104
1894	Stegosauria Marsh
1895	Stegosauria Marsh
1896	Omosaurus durobrisensis Mansel-Pleydell p. 119
1896	Stegosauria Marsh p. 242
1897	Stegosauri Gadow p. 205
1898	Stegosauri Gadow p. 22
1898	Stegosauria Woodward p. 209
1900	Regnosaurus northamptoni Van Den Broeck p. 85
1900	Stegosauria Van Den Broeck p. 85
1901	Stegosauri Gadow p. 425
1901	Craterosaurus Nopcsa p. 199
1901	Craterosaurus pottoniensis Nopcsa p. 199
1901	Omosaurus durobrivensis Nopcsa p. 214
1901	Regnosaurus Nopcsa p. 215
1901	Regnosaurus northamptoni Nopcsa p. 215
1901	Omosaurus leedsi Seeley
1909	Craterosaurus Huene p. 16
1909	Regnosaurus Huene p. 17
1910	Omosaurus vetustus Huene p. 76 fig. 7
1910	Omosaurus durobrivensis Lull p. 376
1911	Stegosaurus durobrinensis Nopcsa p. 40
1911	Omosaurus vetustus Nopcsa p. 42
1911	Craterosaurus von Zittel p. 283
1911	Regnosaurus von Zittel p. 295
1912	Stegosauria Lull p. 210
1915	Stegosauria Hennig p. 10
1915	Dacentrurus durobrivensis Hennig p. 11
1915	Dacentrurus leedsi Hennig p. 11
1915	Dacentrurus vetustus Hennig p. 12
1915	Regnosaurus Hennig p. 14
1915	Regnosaurus northamptoni Hennig p. 14
1915	Stegosauria Lull p. 117
1915	Stegosauria Matthew p. 32
1921	Stegosauria Lull p. 123
1924	Stegosauria Lull p. 241
1924	Omosaurus durobrivensis Lull p. 242
1928	Craterosaurus Nopcsa p. 185
1928	Stegosauri Perrier p. 3118
1934	Stegosauria Swinton p. 45
1937	Stegosauria Roxo p. 44
1939	Omosaurus durobrivensis Kuhn p. 113
1946	Stegosauria Kuhn p. 66
1947	Stegosauria Lapparent pp. 17-18
1954	Stegosauria Huene p. 51
1956	Omosaurus durobrivensis Leeds p. 35
1956	Stegosauria Romer p. 632
1956	Craterosaurus Romer p. 634
1957	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Hoffstetter pp. 543-545
1957	Omosaurus vetustus Hoffstetter pp. 543-544
1959	Chialingosaurus Young pp. 1-2 figs. 1-6
1959	Chialingosaurus kuani Young pp. 1-2 figs. 1-6
1959	Chialingosaurus chuhsienensis Young p. 1154
1960	Stegosauria Delair p. 86
1963	Stegosauria Parsch p. 4
1964	Stegosauria Kuhn p. 32
1964	Chialingosaurus Kuhn p. 33
1964	Chialingosaurus kuani Kuhn p. 33
1964	Craterosaurus Kuhn p. 33
1964	Craterosaurus pottonensis Kuhn p. 33
1964	Dacentrurus vetustus Kuhn p. 35
1964	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Kuhn p. 35
1964	Lexovisaurus leedsi Kuhn p. 35
1964	Hylaeosaurus northamptoni Kuhn p. 41
1964	Stegosauria Tatarinov p. 572
1964	Chialingosaurus Tatarinov p. 573
1964	Craterosaurus Tatarinov p. 573
1966	Stegosauria Kuhn p. 104
1966	Chialingosaurus Romer p. 370
1966	Craterosaurus Romer p. 370
1966	Stegosauria Romer p. 370
1967	Craterosaurus Charig p. 715
1967	Craterosaurus pottoniensis Charig p. 715
1967	Dacentrurus vetustus Charig p. 715
1967	Hylaeosaurus northamptoni Charig p. 715
1967	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Charig p. 715
1967	Stegosauria Charig p. 715
1970	Stegosauria Swinton p. 117
1970	Stegosaurus durobrivensis Swinton p. 241
1970	Chialingosaurus Swinton p. 244
1971	Stegosauria Thulborn p. 77 fig. 4
1973	Stegosauria Delair p. 5
1974	Stegosauria Bakker and Galton p. 171
1974	Stegosauria Krebs p. 22
1978	Stegosauria Bonaparte p. 331
1979	Stegosauria Benton p. 143
1980	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Galton and Boiné p. 31
1980	Lexovisaurus vetustus Galton et al. p. 41
1980	Stegosauria Ostrom p. 23
1981	Craterosaurus Galton p. 42
1981	Craterosaurus pottonensis Galton pp. 42-43
1981	Stegosauria McIntosh p. 35
1982	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Galton pp. 145-146
1982	Stegosauria McGinnis p. 29
1983	Chialingosaurus Dong et al. p. 95
1983	Chialingosaurus kuani Dong et al. p. 96 figs. Pl. 32-34
1983	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Galton p. 2
1983	Monkonosaurus Zhao p. 301
1984	Chialingosaurus He p. 74
1984	Chialingosaurus kuani He p. 74
1984	Stegosauria Russell p. 29
1985	Craterosaurus Galton p. 213 fig. 11
1985	Craterosaurus pottonensis Galton p. 213 fig. 11
1985	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Galton p. 236 figs. 4, 19, 21-22
1985	Lexovisaurus vetustus Galton p. 246 fig. 15
1985	Stegosauria Maryanska and Osmólska pp. 139-141 fig. 1
1985	Chialingosaurus kuani Zhao p. 289
1986	Stegosauria Bakker p. 461
1986	Stegosauria Sereno
1986	Monkonosaurus lawulacus Ye et al. p. 203
1986	Monkonosaurus Zhao p. 69
1986	Monkonosaurus lawulacus Zhao p. 69
1986	Chialingosaurus Zhou p. 36
1988	Chialingosaurus Carroll
1988	Craterosaurus Carroll
1988	Stegosauria Carroll
1988	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Martill p. 180
1990	Stegosauria Benton p. 19
1990	Chialingosaurus Dong p. 260
1990	Chialingosaurus kuani Dong p. 260
1990	Monkonosaurus Dong p. 264
1990	Monkonosaurus lawulacus Dong p. 264
1990	Chialingosaurus Galton
1990	Chialingosaurus kuani Galton
1990	Craterosaurus Galton
1990	Craterosaurus pottonensis Galton
1990	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Galton
1990	Stegosauria Galton
1990	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Galton pp. 185-186
1991	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Buffetaut et al. p. 24
1992	Regnosaurus northamptoni Cheevely and Chapman p. 334
1992	Chialingosaurus kuani Dong p. 85
1992	Chialingosaurus Dong p. 166
1992	Monkonosaurus Dong p. 166
1992	Monkonosaurus lawulacus Dong p. 166
1993	Chialingosaurus Olshevsky and Ford
1993	Chialingosaurus kuani Olshevsky and Ford
1993	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Olshevsky and Ford
1993	Monkonosaurus Olshevsky and Ford
1993	Monkonosaurus lawulacus Olshevsky and Ford
1993	Regnosaurus Olshevsky and Ford
1993	Regnosaurus northamptoni Olshevsky and Ford
1994	Wuerhosaurus ordosensis Dong pp. 2174-2176 figs. 1-2
1994	Craterosaurus Galton p. 265
1995	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Casanovas-Cladellas et al. p. 282
1997	Regnosaurus Norman p. 785
1997	Regnosaurus northamptoni Norman p. 785
1997	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Smith p. 509
1998	Craterosaurus Blows p. 33
1998	Craterosaurus pottonensis Blows p. 33
1998	Regnosaurus Blows p. 33
1998	Regnosaurus northamptoni Blows p. 33
1998	Stegosauria Sereno p. 61
1999	Chialingosaurus guangyuanensis Li et al.
1999	Stegosauria Sereno p. 2138 fig. 2
2001	Regnosaurus Blows p. 137
2001	Regnosaurus northamptoni Blows p. 137
2001	Craterosaurus Blows p. 139
2001	Craterosaurus pottonensis Blows p. 139
2001	Chialingosaurus Carpenter et al. p. 73 fig. 3.14
2001	Chialingosaurus kuani Carpenter et al. p. 73
2001	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Carpenter et al. p. 73
2001	Regnosaurus Pereda Suberbiola and Galton p. 151
2001	Regnosaurus northamptoni Pereda Suberbiola and Galton p. 151
2002	Stegosauria Buchholz p. 20
2003	Craterosaurus pottonensis Pereda Suberbiola et al. p. 147
2003	Monkonosaurus lawulacus Pereda Suberbiola et al. p. 147
2003	Regnosaurus northamptoni Pereda Suberbiola et al. p. 147
2003	Wuerhosaurus ordosensis Pereda Suberbiola et al. p. 147
2003	Wuerhosaurus ordosensis Ruiz-Omeñaca and Canudo p. 294
2004	Chialingosaurus Galton and Upchurch p. 344
2004	Chialingosaurus kuani Galton and Upchurch p. 344
2004	Craterosaurus Galton and Upchurch p. 344
2004	Craterosaurus pottonensis Galton and Upchurch p. 344
2004	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Galton and Upchurch p. 344
2004	Stegosauria Galton and Upchurch p. 344
2004	Monkonosaurus Galton and Upchurch p. 345
2004	Monkonosaurus lawulacus Galton and Upchurch p. 345
2004	Wuerhosaurus ordosensis Galton and Upchurch p. 345
2004	Stegosauria Norman et al. p. 342 fig. 15.6
2004	Stegosauria Weishampel p. 323
2006	Stegosauria Chure et al. p. 237
2006	Chialingosaurus kuani Jiang p. 11
2006	Stegosauria Maidment et al. p. 951 fig. 8
2007	Craterosaurus Escaso et al. p. 158
2007	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Escaso et al. p. 158
2007	Craterosaurus pottonensis Escaso et al. p. 159
2007	Craterosaurus pottonensis Naish and Martill p. 496
2007	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Norman et al. p. 866
2007	Stegosauria Sánchez-Hernández et al. p. 204
2007	Monkonosaurus lawulacus Wings et al. p. 116
2007	Wuerhosaurus ordosensis Wings et al. p. 116
2008	Stegosauria Butler et al. p. 20 figs. 2-4
2008	Stegosauria Maidment et al. p. 390 fig. 11
2008	Regnosaurus northamptoni Naish and Martill p. 615
2008	Craterosaurus Naish and Martill p. 616
2008	Craterosaurus pottonensis Naish and Martill p. 616
2008	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Naish and Martill p. 616
2009	Craterosaurus pottonensis Galton p. 246
2011	Chialingosaurus Li et al. p. 24
2011	Chialingosaurus kuani Li et al. p. 24
2012	Stegosauria Han et al. p. 1391 fig. 14
2013	Chialingosaurus kuani Pereda-Suberbiola et al. p. 70
2013	Regnosaurus Pereda-Suberbiola et al. p. 73
2013	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Ruiz-Omeñaca et al. p. 39
2014	Regnosaurus northamptoni Blows and Honeysett p. 838
2014	Stegosauria Ulansky p. 4
2014	Amargastegos Ulansky p. 5
2014	Amargastegos brevicollus Ulansky p. 5
2014	Chialingosaurus Ulansky p. 5
2014	Chialingosaurus kuani Ulansky p. 5
2014	Craterosaurus Ulansky p. 5
2014	Craterosaurus pottonensis Ulansky p. 5
2014	Eoplophysis Ulansky p. 5
2014	Eoplophysis vetustus Ulansky p. 5
2014	Ferganastegos Ulansky p. 5
2014	Ferganastegos callovicus Ulansky p. 5
2014	Monkonosaurus Ulansky p. 5
2014	Monkonosaurus lawulacus Ulansky p. 5
2014	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Ulansky p. 6
2014	Regnosaurus Ulansky p. 6
2014	Regnosaurus northamptoni Ulansky p. 6
2014	Saldamosaurus Ulansky p. 7
2014	Saldamosaurus tuvensis Ulansky p. 7
2014	Wuerhosaurus ordosensis Ulansky p. 8
2014	Eoplophysis Ulansky p. 13
2014	Eoplophysis vetustus Ulansky p. 13
2014	Lexovisaurus durobrivensis Ulansky p. 13
2014	Chialingosaurus kuani Ulansky p. 15
2014	Ferganastegos Ulansky p. 15
2014	Ferganastegos callovicus Ulansky p. 15
2014	Chialingosaurus guangyuanensis Ulansky p. 17
2014	Saldamosaurus Ulansky p. 18
2014	Saldamosaurus tuvensis Ulansky p. 18
2014	Regnosaurus northamptoni Ulansky p. 22
2014	Amargastegos Ulansky p. 23
2014	Amargastegos brevicollus Ulansky p. 23
2014	Wuerhosaurus ordosensis Ulansky p. 23
2014	Monkonosaurus lawulacus Ulansky p. 25
2016	Chialingosaurus kuani Borinder et al. p. 64
2016	Wuerhosaurus ordosensis Borinder et al. p. 65
2016	Monkonosaurus lawulacus Borinder et al. p. 67
2017	Wuerhosaurus ordosensis Chen p. 155
2018	Chialingosaurus kauni Hao et al. p. 431
2018	Wuerhosaurus ordosensis Lockley et al. p. 151
2018	Wuerhosaurus ordosensis Xing et al. p. 2
2020	Stegosauria Dieudonné et al.
2024	Stegosauria Sánchez-Fenollosa et al. p. 2
2024	Stegosauria Zafaty et al. p. 347

Diagnosis

Reference	Diagnosis
K. A. v. Zittel 1890	Wirbel platycöl oder amphieöl und wie die Extremitäten-knochen massiv, ohne innere Hohlräume. Schädel ohne Hörner. Vorderbeine sehr kurz, Hinterbeine ungemein kräftig, hoch. Schambein mit Postpubis. Füsse plantigrad, mit hufartigen Endphalangen. Hautskelet sehr stark entwickelt, aus langen Stacheln und Knochenplatten bestehend; zuweilen einen geschlossenen Rückenpanzer bildend.
H. Gadow 1898	Plantigrade. With dermal armour.
H. Gadow 1901	The fore- and hind-feet are plantigrade, or nearly so, the metapodials being but little elongated, with more than three functional digits. The bones of the limbs are solid. The ribs of the trunk are bifurcated, and are carried by the diapophyses of the neural arches. The body, especially the back, is protected by dermal bony plates, which are not connected with the internal skeleton.
R. S. Lull 1924	Armored quadrupedal dinosaurs; skull small, with anterior part of mouth toothless; functional teeth in single row; large, forwardly placed, anterior nares, but small infraorbital fenestrae; upper temporal fenestra lacking in the Nodosauridae (Ankylosauridae}, with their broad, heavily armored skull; vertebrae amphicoelous or platycoelous and, together with extremities, very massive; fore limbs shorter than hind; feet semi-plantigrade, digits three to five, with short, hoof-like unguals; dermal armor very strongly developed, which has compelled the assumption of the quadrupedal posture as a secondary adaptation for the carrying of the great weight of the armor.
E. Perrier 1928	Plantigrades; métapodes peu allongés; plus de trois doigts fonctionnels; os des membres pleins ; côtes du tronc bifurquées, portées par des diapophyses ; des arcs neuraux. Dos protégé par des plaques osseuses dermiques, parfois verticales, indépendantes du squelette interne.
S. C. R. Maidment et al. 2008	All eurypods more closely related to Stegosaurus than to Ankylosaurus (Sereno 1998). Unambiguous synapomorphies: • Triceps tubercle and descending ridge posterolateral to the deltopectoral crest of humerus present • Fourth trochanter absent or indistinct in adults • Two parasagittal rows of plates or spines extending from the cervical region to the end of the tail present Additional synapomorphies using ACCTRAN: • Oval fossa/fenestra present on pterygoid flange of quadrate (equivocal in Gigantspinosaurus) • Quadrate head strongly compressed transversely (equivocal in Gigantspinosaurus) • Pedal digit III has two or fewer phalanges (equivocal in all stegosaurs except Stegosaurinae) Additional synapomorphies using DELTRAN: • Presence of a supra-acetabular flange of the ilium (convergent in Scelidosaurus)