stegosaur
/ˈstɛɡəsɔː
/(also stegosaurus /ˌstɛɡəˈsɔːrəs/)
noun
A small-headed quadrupedal herbivorous dinosaur of the Jurassic and early Cretaceous periods, with a double row of large bony plates or spines along the back.
- Infraorder Stegosauria, order Ornithischia: several genera, including Stegosaurus.
- The thyreophorans are the armored ornithischians: the stegosaurs and ankylosaurs.
- Whether it's horned dinosaurs, crested duck-billed dinosaurs, plated stegosaurs, or dome-headed dinosaurs, paleontologists identify different species largely by these bizarre structures.
Origin
Modern Latin, from Greek stegē 'covering' + sauros 'lizard'.