Stegosaurus Snacks: Dinosaur National Monument, Northwestern Colorado, 145 Million Years Ago

Late Jurassic, 145 million years ago (Morrison Formation). The Stegosaurus, the state fossil of Colorado, is eating the plants in the area of Dinosaur National Monument in northwestern Colorado and Northeastern Utah. No grass or flowering plants existed at this time, and many plants of the Jurassic plants will be extinct by the end of the age of dinosaurs (Cretaceous).

Plants depicted: Bennettite bushes (Zamites arcticus), Tree ferns (Cladophlebis sp.)
Animal depicted: Stegosaurus stenops

This preliminary version is part of a joint project between the Interactive Geology Project at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The nature paintings at the Colorado Convention Center and Denver Museum of Nature and Science are being animated.

Scene is based on the painting "Stegosaurus Snacks" (Colorado Convention Center)(courtesy Kirk Johnson and Jan Vriesen). A special thanks to James Hagadorn and Ian Miller (DMNS) for their input.

Scene is by Joseph Rogers and James Adson.

http://igp.colorado.edu
Geologic age: 145Ma