More than one century after its original description by Marsh in 1877, we report in this paper the first uncontroversial evidence
of a member of the genus
Stegosaurus out of North America. The specimen consists of a partial skeleton from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal, herein considered
as
Stegosaurus cf.
ungulatus. The presence of this plated dinosaur in the upper Kimmeridgian–lower Tithonian Portuguese record and synchronic levels of
the Morrison Formation of North America reinforces previous hypothesis of a close relationship between these two areas during
the Late Jurassic. This relationship is also supported by geotectonic evidences indicating high probability of an episodic
corridor between the Newfoundland and Iberian landmasses. Together, Portuguese
Stegosaurus discovery and geotectonic inferences could provide a scenario with episodical faunal contact among North Atlantic landmasses
during the uppermost Kimmeridgian–lowermost Tithonian (ca. 148–153 Ma ago).
Keywords Upper Jurassic - Portugal - Stegosauria - Phylogeny - Paleogeography