PBDB Taxon

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Stegosaurinae

Osteichthyes - Stegosauridae

Taxonomy

Stegosaurinae was named by Nopcsa (1917). Its type is Stegosaurus. It was considered monophyletic by Maidment et al. (2008).

It was assigned to Stegosauridae by Nopcsa (1923), Nopcsa (1923), Nopcsa (1928), Nopcsa (1929), Huene (1934), Huene (1934), Romer (1956), Kuhn (1966), Dong et al. (1977), Dong et al. (1983), Zhou (1983), Zhou (1986), Dong (1990), Dong (1992), Sereno (1997), Sereno (1998), Sereno (1999), Escaso et al. (2007), Maidment et al. (2008), Naish and Martill (2008), Ulansky (2014); and to Neostegosauria by Sánchez-Fenollosa and Cobos (2025).

Subtaxa

Hesperosaurus, Jiangjunosaurus, Loricatosaurus, Stegosaurus (syn. Diracodon, Hypsirophus) (type genus), Wuerhosaurus, Yanbeilong

Entered

by M. Carrano on 2003-09-22; modified by M. Carrano on 2017-07-21

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1917	Stegosaurinae Nopcsa
1923	Stegosaurinae Nopcsa p. 126
1928	Stegosaurinae Nopcsa p. 185
1929	Stegosaurinae Nopcsa p. 71
1934	Stegosaurinae Huene p. 15
1956	Stegosaurinae Romer p. 633
1966	Stegosaurinae Kuhn p. 104
1977	Stegosaurinae Dong et al.
1983	Stegosaurinae Dong et al. p. 95
1983	Stegosaurinae Zhou p. 26
1986	Stegosaurinae Zhou p. 35
1990	Stegosaurinae Dong p. 260
1992	Stegosaurinae Dong p. 166
1997	Stegosaurinae Sereno p. 443
1998	Stegosaurinae Sereno p. 61
1999	Stegosaurinae Sereno p. 2138 fig. 2
2007	Stegosaurinae Escaso et al. p. 368
2008	Stegosaurinae Maidment et al. p. 390 fig. 11
2008	Stegosaurinae Naish and Martill p. 616
2014	Stegosaurinae Ulansky p. 7
2025	Stegosaurinae Sánchez-Fenollosa and Cobos p. 175

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
class	Osteichthyes
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
—	Sauropsida
class	Reptilia
subclass	Eureptilia	()
—	Romeriida
—	Diapsida	()
—	Archosauromorpha	(Huene 1946)

Rank	Name	Author
—	Crocopoda
—	Archosauriformes	Gauthier 1986
—	Eucrocopoda
—	Archosauria	()
informal	Avemetatarsalia
—	Ornithodira
—	Dinosauromorpha
—	Dinosauriformes
—	Dinosauria	()
—	Ornithischia	()
—	Parapredentata	Norman 2022
—	Saphornithischia	Madzia et al. 2001
—	Prionodontia	Owen 1874
—	Genasauria
—	Thyreophora	()
superfamily	Thyreophoroidea	()
—	Eurypoda
—	Stegosauria	()
family	Stegosauridae
—	Neostegosauria
subfamily	Stegosaurinae	Nopcsa 1917
subfamily	Stegosaurinae	Nopcsa 1917

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

Subfm. †Stegosaurinae Nopcsa 1917

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G. †Hesperosaurus Carpenter et al. 2001

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†Hesperosaurus mjosi Carpenter et al. 2001

G. †Jiangjunosaurus Jia et al. 2007

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†Jiangjunosaurus junggarensis Jia et al. 2007

G. †Loricatosaurus Maidment et al. 2008

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†Loricatosaurus priscus Nopcsa 1911

G. †Stegosaurus Marsh 1877

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†Stegosaurus armatus Marsh 1877

†Stegosaurus duplex Marsh 1887

†Stegosaurus stenops Marsh 1887

†Stegosaurus sulcatus Marsh 1887

†Stegosaurus ungulatus Marsh 1879

Invalid names: Diracodon Marsh 1881 [synonym], Hypsirophus Cope 1878 [synonym], Stegosaurus affinis Marsh 1881 [nomen nudum], Stegosaurus armatus Marsh 1877 [nomen dubium]

G. †Wuerhosaurus Dong 1973

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†Wuerhosaurus homheni Dong 1973

G. †Yanbeilong Jia et al. 2024

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†Yanbeilong ultimus Jia et al. 2024

Diagnosis

Reference	Diagnosis
B. F. Nopcsa 1928	no coronoidal process; teeth inflated; tail bearing dermal spines
S. C. R. Maidment et al. 2008	Unambiguous synapomorphy: • Distal caudal centra equidimensional Additional synapomorphies using DELTRAN: • Alveoli of dentary tooth row obscured by a thin lateral lamina in lateral view (equivocal in Dacentrurus) • Dorsal surface of distal ischial shaft has a distinct angle approximately midway along the shaft (convergent in Gastonia and Sauropelta) • Pedal digit III has two or fewer phalanges (equivocal in other stegosaurs) • Pedal digit IV has three or fewer phalanges (equivocal in other stegosaurs; convergent in Euoplocephalus)