Stegosaurus was also considerably slower than Allosaurus, thanks to its low-to-the-ground build and much shorter legs.

This hippopotamus-size herbivore only possessed a brain the size of a walnut, so there's now way it could outsmart a nimble theropod like Allosaurus (or even a giant fern, for that matter). Stegosaurus is the genus everyone has in mind when they talk about how spectacularly dumb dinosaurs were.

The squat build of Stegosaurus, and its low center of gravity, also made this dinosaur difficult to dislodge from an advantageous position.ĭisadvantages. We don't know how fast the average Stegosaurus could swing this deadly weapon, but even a glancing blow might well have taken out an unlucky theropod's eye, or inflicted some other nasty wound that would convince it to go after easier prey. In close combat, Stegosaurus could rely on its spiked tail-sometimes called a 'thagomizer'-to deter hungry theropods. this dinosaur's name, 'roofed lizard,' was bestowed before paleontologists properly understood the orientation of its famous 'scutes,' or bony plates (and even today, there's some controversy about what these plates were actually intended for).Īdvantages. Not only did this plant-eater sport two rows of roughly triangular bony plates lining its back and neck, but its skin was extremely tough (and probably much harder to bite through than the epidermis of an elephant). In the Near Corner - Stegosaurus, the Spiked, Plated DinosaurĪbout 30 feet long from head to tail and weighing in the neighborhood of two to three tons, Stegosaurus was built like a Jurassic tank. Before these dinosaurs take their corners in the Dinosaur Death Duel thunderdome, let's look at their specs. A Stegosaurus warding off an Allosaurus attack (Alain Beneteau).Īcross the plains and woodlands of late Jurassic North America, circa 150 million years ago, two dinosaurs stood out for their size and majesty: the gentle, small-brained, impressively plated Stegosaurus, and the agile, three-fingered and perpetually hungry Allosaurus.

Allosaurus vs t rex