Stegosaurus

* Evolution 2
* Database
* Evolution
* 1997

* Evolution 2
* Evolution

***Stegosaurus*** is a genus of stegosaurid dinosaur in the *Jurassic World Evolution* series, originating from Late Jurassic North America and Europe.

In *Evolution*, three large herds of *Stegosaurus* are encountered during the opening stages of operations on Isla Sorna, and they subsequently become available for expedition teams on that island. In the *Secrets of Dr. Wu* DLC, they can be fused with a *Triceratops* to create the *Stegoceratops* hybrid.

## History

Originating in the Late Jurassic period of North America, *Stegosaurus* was first cloned by InGen in the early 1990s, and were planned to be exhibited in the original Jurassic Park on Isla Nublar. However, although InGen maintained a herd of eleven *Stegosaurus* on Isla Sorna, by the time of the Jurassic Park incident in 1993, they had yet to transport any to Nublar.

During a mission to Sorna in 1997, a breeding herd of *Stegosaurus* were encountered by Dr. Ian Malcolm's group, and several were briefly captured by InGen. In 2001, herds of *Stegosaurus* were briefly glimpsed on Isla Sorna by the survivors of a plane crash on the island.

*Stegosaurus* were later exhibited on Isla Nublar for Masrani Global's Jurassic World theme park, where they lived alongside many other species of herbivores in the Gyrosphere Valley, Cretaceous Cruise, and the Gentle Giants Petting Zoo attractions. Three years after the park was abandoned, numerous *Stegosaurus* were encountered on Isla Nublar, during a mission to rescue the dinosaurs from the volcanic eruption of Mount Sibo. Several *Stegosaurus* were successfully transported to the mainland, with at least one was sold off-screen during the auction, while the others were released into the wild of northern California alongside all the other dinosaurs.

A year after the events at Lockwood Manor, a *Stegosaurus* was seen crossing a highway, and unintentionally forced a motorist off the road.

Four years after the events at Lockwood Manor, several *Stegosaurus* were taken to a sanctuary created by BioSyn.

## Characteristics

    *Stegosaurus* is a large species of stegosaurid dinosaur, in fact the largest member of the stegosaurs. With their distinctive upright dorsal plates and spikes that adorn its back and tail, *Stegosaurus* is one of the most famous and universally recognized dinosaurs, and as such a popular attraction to Jurassic World parks. Its name translates to "*Roofed Lizard*". Additionally, the *Stegosaurus* of the Hammond Foundation bare 22 plates on their backs as opposed to the traditional amount of 17 as seen in their prehistoric forebearers. These herbivores have been noted for the small brain pan in relation to their body mass. As *Stegosaurus* shared its habitat with many large predators including *Ceratosaurus* and *Allosaurus*, it required a method of defending itself – the long spikes on its tail allow it to lash out at attackers, although the back plates are believed to be for display when attracting a mate. The base genome of Stegosaurus is light brown, with striped plates and tail spikes.

## Gameplay

### *Evolution*

#### Behaviour

*Stegosaurus* is a herding animal but becomes territorial with each other when there are more than nine individuals, a problem encountered on the Isla Sorna map when there are several loose on the island. It is advised therefore to house them in other exhibits or sell any excess *Stegosaurus*. *Stegosaurus* can also be kept with a number of other herbivores.

#### Available genomes

 Dinosaur National Monument | ★★★★★
 Lourinhã Formation | ★★★★★★★★

#### Skins

* Base Game
* Return to Jurassic Park

 NULL

 RAINFOREST

 STEPPE

 VIVID

 WETLAND

 WOODLAND

 1997

 1997 A

 1997 B

 1997 C

 1997 D

 1997 E

 1997 B: Isla Sorna (1993) Challenge Mode Jurassic Difficulty Unlock
### *Evolution 2*

#### Behaviour

In *Evolution 2*, *Stegosaurus* are a social animal that live in moderately sized herds of their own species, as well as other herbivores. While they are a social species, they do not coexist well with ceratopids, such as *Triceratops*, and will engage in territorial fights if housed in the same enclosure. Due to their natural defences, *Stegosaurus* can fight back against large predators, and are too heavily armoured for many smaller species of carnivore to hunt. *Stegosaurus* require a large amount of low-lying foliage, as well as some forested areas in their enclosure, and may attempt to escape if their social and environmental needs are not met.

## Paleontology

One of the world's best-known dinosaurs, *Stegosaurus* was first found in 1877 by famous American paleontologist, Othniel Charles Marsh in the Morrison Formation in Colorado. Othniel Marsh was the first to classify *Stegosaurus* as a new genus in the Bone Wars book, after fossils were found near to the Morrison Formation. Most of the collected *Stegosaurus* remains have come from this region in North America as well as in Portugal. Famous for the large plates on its back and the lethal spikes on its tail, Marsh named the new genus *Stegosaurus*, which translates to "*Roof Lizard*", as Marsh first theorized that the back plates were initially believed to lay across the dinosaur's back horizontally like roof tiles as a sort of armor. It was only after several complete skeletons were found that the plates were correctly reconstructed. The plates of *Stegosaurus* and other North American stegosaurs such as *Hesperosaurus* are arranged in staggered alternating pairs, which are different than the stegosaurs with straight pairs of plates such as *Kentrosaurus* and *Chungkingosaurus*.

The plates have long been a point of discussion. Being too fragile for defense, they were more likely used for display or make the animal appear larger and more frightening to predators. In addition to the 17 to 22 plates on its back, *Stegosaurus* also had four "thagomizers" (named in honor of a 1982 *The Far Side* comic) on the end of its tail, which would've been used as a potent weapon against predators like *Allosaurus* and *Ceratosaurus*, as demonstrated by an *Allosaurus* vertebra described with a large hole perfectly fitting the shape of a *Stegosaurus* thagomizer. Some *Stegosaurus* skeletons had six to eight spikes instead, possibly as a birth defect or by genetic chance or a combination of both.

Some scientists believe that the back legs of *Stegosaurus* were designed for rearing up to reach the tops of trees. Trackways show that the animal likely traveled in multi-age herds for protection.

### Paleoecology

*Stegosaurus* lived in what is now North America and Portugal during the Late Jurassic period, around 145-155 million years ago, in semiarid environments with distinct wet and dry seasons upon flat floodplains. It roamed the vast, dry plains where conifers formed river-lining forests, in search of low-lying vegetation such as ginkgoes, cycads, trees, ferns, plants, and sparse Araucaria trees. It coexisted with many other notable genera of dinosaurs such as the fearsome *Allosaurus* as well as *Apatosaurus*, *Brachiosaurus*, *Camarasaurus*, *Ceratosaurus*, *Diplodocus*, and *Dryosaurus*.

## Behind the scenes

The *Stegosaurus* was created using the 3D model that was created for the *Jurassic World* films by Industrial Light & Magic, as well as audio files provided by Universal Pictures to create the most authentic representation of the dinosaur. It was first revealed in the announcement trailer that was released at Gamescom 2017. It received a Species Profile on February 9, 2018.

During the trailers leading up to release, *Stegosaurus* was seen with a low-hanging tail similar to old-fashioned portraits, as well as *Jurassic World*. In response to community feedback, the development team revisited the model prior to release and included an elevated tail, similar to both its real-life counterpart and its appearance in the earlier *Jurassic Park* films.

In 2019, from January 24th to January 31st, a community event was held where the community was required to cumulatively release 25,000 individual *Stegosaurus*. This goal was exceeded by ten-fold, as the total came out to 295,514. As a result, a new vivid skin could now be applied to *Stegosaurus* for all players following Update 1.6.2.

For the *Return to Jurassic Park* expansion pack, *Stegosaurus* was given a complete overhaul with a brand new model that is based on its depiction in 1997's *The Lost World: Jurassic Park*, and six additional cosmetic skins.

## Gallery

Evolution Database images
VideosSpecies Profile - StegosaurusSpecies Field Guide - Stegosaurus - Jurassic World Evolution 2
Images
## References

1. ↑ *What Killed the Gene Guard Act?*. (February 23, 2018). Dinosaur Protection Group. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
2. ↑ Spielberg, Steven. (Director). (1997). *The Lost World: Jurassic Park* [Film]. Universal Pictures.
3. ↑ Johnston, Joe. (Director). (2001). *Jurassic Park III* [Film]. Universal Pictures.
4. ↑ Trevorrow, Colin. (Director). (2015). *Jurassic World* [Film]. Universal Pictures.
5. ↑ Bayona, J. A. (Director). (2018). *Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom* [Film]. Universal Pictures.
6. ↑ Trevorrow, Colin. (Director). (2019). *Battle at Big Rock* [Short film]. Universal Pictures.
7. ↑ Trevorrow, Colin. (Director). (2022). *Jurassic World Dominion* [Film]. Universal Pictures.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Vaaler, J. E. [Jens Erik]. (July 14, 2021). *Species Field Guide - Stegosaurus* [Online forum post]. Frontier Forums. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
9. ↑ Krupa, Daniel (May 16, 2018). HOW JURASSIC WORLD EVOLUTION MADE ITS T.REX - IGN FIRST *IGN*. Retrieved June 14, 2018
10. ↑ PlayStation Europe. (August 21, 2017). *Jurassic World Evolution | Announcement Trailer | PS4* [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
11. ↑ Frontier Developments. (February 9, 2018). *Species Profile - Stegosaurus* [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
12. ↑ Frontier Developments. (October 9, 2017). *Jurassic World Content Reveal* [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
13. ↑ Frontier Developments. (October 8, 2017). *First In-Game Footage - Jurassic World Evolution* [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
14. ↑ JW Evolution [@JW\_Evolution]. (January 24, 2019). It's our 25th anniversary this month here at @FrontierDev and we want to celebrate it with you! [Tweet]. Twitter.
15. ↑ Crowther, Paul [Paul\_Crowther]. (January 31, 2019). *Update 1.6.2 and Vivid Stegosaurus Skin* [Online forum post]. Frontier Forums. Retrieved March 20, 2021.