Timeline of stegosaur research

Skeletal mount of Stegosaurus.

This timeline of stegosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the stegosaurs, the iconic plate-backed, spike-tailed herbivorous eurypod dinosaurs that predominated during the Jurassic period. The first scientifically documented stegosaur remains were recovered from Early Cretaceous strata in England during the mid-19th century.[1] However, they would not be recognized as a distinct group of dinosaurs until Othniel Charles Marsh described the new genus and species Stegosaurus armatus in 1877, which he regarded as the founding member of the Stegosauria.[2] This new taxon originally included all armored dinosaurs. It was not until 1927 that Alfred Sherwood Romer implemented the modern use of the name Stegosauria as specifically pertaining to the plate-backed and spike-tailed dinosaurs.[1]

From the time of their earliest description, the chief mystery surrounding stegosaurs was the function of their distinctive back plates. Marsh originally interpreted them as being plates of armor that would protect against predators. In 1910, Richard Swann Lull would agree with this hypothesis. Charles Whitney Gilmore disagreed in 1914 and argued that the only protection a stegosaur could gain from its plates was to appear intimidatingly larger to potential predators. Nearly forty years later, Davitashvili argued that the plates were too fragile to be used for defense and instead used to attract mates and signal the stegosaur's rank in a social hierarchy.[3]

In the late 1970s, James O. Farlow and others would propose that the thin, blood vessel-rich plates helped absorb or lose body heat, depending on the animal's own physiological requirements.[4] This hypothesis was put forth in a broader context of scientists considering the possibility that dinosaurs may have maintained body temperatures and activity levels similar to those of modern birds and mammals,[5] in which case the plates may have served primarily to shed heat rather than gain it. In the late 1980s Buffrenil and others revived the idea that stegosaur plates were display structures, an interpretation that would continue to find favor from researchers like Main and colleagues into the 21st century.[4]

19th century

Regnosaurus jaw fragments.
Type specimen of Omosaurus armatus.

1840s

1841

1870s

Othniel Charles Marsh's reconstruction of Stegosaurus.

1874

1875

1876

1877

1878

1879

1880s

Holotype of Omosaurus (now Dacentrurus) armatus, from Sir Richard Owen's 1875 monograph.
Holotype of Stegosaurus stenops.

1880

1881

1884

1887

1890s

1893

20th century

1900s

Artist's restoration of Dacentrurus.
Dacentrurus spike and limb bones.

1901

1902

1910s

1910

1911

1912

1914

Artist's restoration of Kentrosaurus.

1915

1916

1920s

Ankylosaurs (pictured) were first distinguished from stegosaurs in 1927 by Romer.

1924

1927

Skull of Paranthodon.

1929

1940s

1944

1950s

Artist's restoration of Chialingosaurus kuani.

1951

1957

1960s

Fossils of Lexovisaurus.

1961

1963

1966

1970s

Artist's restoration of Wuerhosaurus.

1973

1976

Artist's restoration of Tuojiangosaurus.

1977

1978

1979

1980s

Artist's restoration of Huayangosaurus taibaii.

1980

1981

Skeletal mount of Kentrosaurus.

1982

1983

1984

Stegosaurus back plate.

1985

1986

Tracks supposedly left by stegosaurs in South America may actually have been left by hadrosaurs.

1987

1987

1987

1990s

Artist's restoration of Wuerhosaurus.

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

Dravidosaurus may have actually been a plesiosaur.

1996

1997

1998

Stegosaurus tail spikes.

1999

21st century

2000s

Main and others argued that Stegosaurus did not use its plates to regulate its body temperature.

2000

Skeletal mount of Hesperosaurus mjosi.

2001

2001

2006

2007

2008

2009

Artist's restoration of Miragaia.

2010s

2014

2016

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Galton and Upchurch (2004); "Introduction", page 343.
  2. Galton and Upchurch (2004); "Table 16.1: Stegosauria", pages 344-345.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Galton and Upchurch (2004); "Paleoecology and Behavior", page 361.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Galton and Upchurch (2004); "Paleoecology and Behavior", page 362.
  5. Chinsamy and Hillenius (2004); "Introduction", page 643.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Galton and Upchurch (2004); "Table 16.1: Stegosauria", page 345.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Galton and Upchurch (2004); "Table 16.1: Stegosauria", page 344.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Galton and Upchurch (2004); "Taphonomy", page 360.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Galton and Upchurch (2004); "Paleoecology and Behavior", page 360.
  10. Jenny J., Jossen J.A., 1982, "Découverte d'empreintes de pas de Dinosauriens dans le Jurassique inferieur (Pliensbachien) du Haut Atlas central (Maroc)", Comptes Rendues hébdomanaires des Séances de la Academie de Sciences 294: 223–226
  11. 1 2 Galton and Upchurch (2004); "Systematic and Evolution", page 358.
  12. Heinrich, W-D., 1999, "The taphonomy of dinosaurs from the Upper Jurassic of Tendaguru (Tanzania) based on field sketches of the German Tendaguru Expedition (1909–1913)", Mitteilungen Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Geowissenschaftliche Reihe, 2: 25–61
  13. Chengkai et al. (2007); "Abstract", page 351.
  14. Maidment et al. (2008); "Synopsis", page 367.
  15. Mateus, Maidment and Christiansen (2009); "Abstract", page 1815.
  16. Galton and Carpenter (2016); in passim.

References

External links

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