Stephanosaurus is a type of dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period, around 76 to 75 million years ago. Its name means “crown lizard.”
This dinosaur is part of a larger family called Hadrosauridae, which includes the well-known duck-billed dinosaurs.
In 1902, a scientist named Lawrence Lambe discovered some limb bones and other parts from Alberta, Canada, and named it Trachodon marginatus. Later, in 1914, Lambe examined more complete skulls from the same area and decided to create a new name, Stephanosaurus, for this dinosaur based on those findings.
Even though Stephanosaurus was named, there was some confusion. The original limb bones and fragmentary skull that Lambe used to name Stephanosaurus were too damaged to be connected to the new skulls he found. Because of this, other scientists felt unsure about whether everything belonged to the same dinosaur.
In 1923, another paleontologist named William Parks suggested a new name for the complete skulls, calling them Lambeosaurus lambei, in honor of Lambe. This made it even harder to define Stephanosaurus clearly.
In summary, Stephanosaurus is a dinosaur known from incomplete remains and has been a bit of a puzzle for scientists in understanding its exact identity and relationships with other dinosaurs. It shows how sometimes, naming and classifying dinosaurs can be complicated!