English: Size comparison of the holotype specimen (HIIUC-BN00) of Thyreosaurus atlasicus with an adult human male (~1.8 m) for reference.

Note: While Thyreosaurus can be reconstructed as a dacentrurine stegosaur with reasonable confidence, the structure and arrangement of its unusual osteoderms are much less certain. Traditional stegosaur plates and spikes were not found in association with the holotype. Rather, several unusual osteoderms were found that appear to have rested flat against the animal's body. It is unclear how this would have appeared in life, or if Thyreosaurus also had the plates and spikes normally found with related taxa.

References

• "A new stegosaurian dinosaur (Ornithischia: Thyreophora) with a remarkable dermal armour from the Middle Jurassic of North Africa"
• "A new long-necked ‘sauropod-mimic’ stegosaur and the evolution of the plated dinosaurs"
• "Dacentrurine stegosaurs (Dinosauria): A new specimen of Miragaia longicollum from the Late Jurassic of Portugal resolves taxonomical validity and shows the occurrence of the clade in North America"
• "Preparation techniques applied to a stegosaurian dinosaur from Portugal"
• Dacentrurus skeletal by Dan Folkes
• Miragaia skeletal by Ashley Patch