Dino card No. 1202 of 2,027

Mongolostegus

Say it: mon-GOL-oh-STEG-us

Name means: “Mongolian roof”1

Ate: PlantsPlated dinosEarly Cretaceous

Mongolostegus was a plated dinosaur that lived in what is now Mongolia during the Early Cretaceous, about 121 to 100 million years ago. It was one of the last stegosaurs to walk the Earth, and its fossils were found in the Dzunbain Formation.2 1

Lived

121 to 100 million years ago3

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Chamrin-Us, Dornogov Province, Mongolia3 1

Food

Plants2

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Mongolostegus is the first and only stegosaur ever named from Mongolia.1

Its fossils were discovered in 1981 by a joint Soviet and Mongolian expedition.1

The only known specimen includes a caudosacral vertebra, five tail vertebrae, a sacral rib, and parts of the hip bones.1

Mongolostegus lived near the end of the Early Cretaceous, making it one of the youngest stegosaurs ever found.1

Scientists think Mongolostegus may have been an early-diverging stegosaur, related to older dinosaurs like Huayangosaurus.1

The tail vertebrae of Mongolostegus have neural spines that are not expanded at the tips, a feature seen in more primitive stegosaurs.1

AI-made picture of Mongolostegus — An AI-made picture of how Mongolostegus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Mongolostegus

?How big was Mongolostegus?

Nobody knows for sure. Only a few bones have been found, so scientists cannot estimate its size.1

?What did Mongolostegus eat?

It was a herbivore, meaning it ate plants.3

?When did Mongolostegus live?

It lived during the Early Cretaceous, about 121 to 100 million years ago.1

?Is Mongolostegus a dinosaur?

Yes, it is a dinosaur. It belongs to the group Stegosauria, which are plated dinosaurs.1

Ask Rex about Mongolostegus

Rex only answers questions about this page. 3 questions a day.

Rex is an AI and can make mistakes. He runs on servers in the EU and questions are never saved. Never type your name or other personal things.

For dino experts

Scientific name: Mongolostegus
Named by: Tumanova and Alifanov 20183
Group: Plated dinos
Family / clade: Stegosauridae3
Classification: Ornithischia > Stegosauria > Thyreophora3
Age of the rocks: 121 to 100 million years (Aptian / Albian)3
Rock formations: Dzunbain3
Countries: Mongolia3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Mongolostegus was first reported in 2005 as an unidentified stegosaur, then informally named Wuerhosaurus mongoliensis in 2014. In 2018, Tumanova and Alifanov formally named it Mongolostegus exspectabilis based on a partial skeleton found in the Dzunbain Formation of Mongolia.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure whether Mongolostegus was a member of the early-diverging Huayangosauridae or a primitive stegosaurid, because its fossils are too fragmentary.1

Where the facts come from

Mongolostegus (en.wikipedia.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Mongolostegus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

Rex is hungry! Dino Wiki is a dad's project for his dino-loving son, free with no ads. Grown-ups can feed Rex a snack to help keep it online.Feed Rex