Stegosaurus was a large, herbivorous dinosaur that lived during the Late Jurassic period, around 155 to 150 million years ago. It measured up to 9 meters (30 feet) in length and weighed around 5 metric tons. Stegosaurus is known for its distinctive double row of large, bony plates along its back and the four long spikes on its tail, called the thagomizer, which it likely used for defense against predators. Its small head and low stance suggest it fed on low-lying plants. Fossils of Stegosaurus h

It's #fossilfriday! Meet Stegosaurus! "Stegosaurus means "roofed lizard," which was derived from the belief by 19th-century paleontologists that the plates lay flat along its back like shingles on a roof. But most evidence supports the idea that the plates alternated in two rows, pointy side up from the dinosaur's neck down to its rear. Its 17 plates, called scutes, were made of a bony material called osteoderms but were not solid; they had lattice-like structures and blood vessels throughout."