Stegosaurus vs Daspletosaurus

[ShinGojira14]

Stegosaurus Ungulatus

VS

Daspletosaurus Torosus

Rules: Male Stegosaurus; Female Daspletosaurus.

Battleground: Montana.

Verdict: Both of these animals are capable of beating one another in the right circumstances, so this battle really comes down to who has the larger chance of winning. Overall, I’d say around 53% for Stegosaurus and 47% for Daspletosaurus, though the tyrannosaur would be a greater challenge than most predators the herbivore is used to dealing with. The Daspletosaurus is definitely gonna make the plant eater work for this one.

(Of course, this is all speculation, as we don’t know how ferocious any non-avian dinosaur really was; all we have are their skeletons.)

[Spuro]

Of course, this is all speculation

Isn't that every FM?

But yes, prehistoric creatures are hit particularly hard by that.

[MoarCrossovers]

We may need to have a think about banning real-life extinct animals from the FMs.

[SoggyNoodles2016]

We may need to have a think about banning real-life extinct animals from the FMs.

Yeah, speaking personally, I would vote for this.

Only the bare minimum have enough information on their life feats for us to accurately address how they would work.

[Kiryu2012]

Gonna have to say Daspletosaurus. It can keep out of range of the Stegosaurus' thagomizer, and while the tyrannosaur has no experience with hunting dinosaurs like the stego, it should be able to figure out that the tail is dangerous to be near, and focus its attention on the stego's head and neck region.

[Nagoda]

If we are going to use extinct animals, let’s at least use extinct animals we either have documented stuff about or have been in movies. Now for the fight, I have no idea how a Daspletosaurus will fight, but I’m going to assume it’ll fight like a T-Rex would in most movie portrayals so going off that for both dinosaurs, I’d say the stegosaurus would probably lose, as it requires keeping its predators at its back, and if the Daspletosaurus can get around that tail, he’s free to go for either knocking over the opposition or a killing blow to the neck area.

[Spuro]

If we are going to use extinct animals, let’s at least use extinct animals we either have documented stuff about or have been in movies.

Daspletosaurus was in the Dinosaur Planet documentary, if you're looking for visual media to base things off of.

[Nagoda]

If we are going to use extinct animals, let’s at least use extinct animals we either have documented stuff about or have been in movies.

Daspletosaurus was in the Dinosaur Planet documentary, if you're looking for visual media to base things off of.

Well there we go then! Perfectly good FM right here, provided we get clips of them.

[Kiryu2012]

If we are going to use extinct animals, let’s at least use extinct animals we either have documented stuff about or have been in movies.

Daspletosaurus was in the Dinosaur Planet documentary, if you're looking for visual media to base things off of.

Well there we go then! Perfectly good FM right here, provided we get clips of them.

And why not, have some Dinosaur Planet too.

[Inferno Rodan]

I don't see the problem with using extinct creatures in FMs, so long as we have good enough remains to have a reasonably solid grasp of what they'd be physically capable of. The fact that these are real animals and not movie monsters means there's a lot less to consider in terms of behavior and fighting style and whatnot. How they would fight is much more directly dictated by their anatomy than some fictional beast governed by bullshit movie logic.

Aaaaaaanyway…

I'd lean toward the Daspletosaurus. We know Allosaurus could successfully take on Stegosaurus, and Daspletosaurus is pretty comparable to Allosaurus in terms of size and general build.

[Shoopwoop17]

I'm 100% team Stegosaurus. For the sake of argument, we'll say that Allosaurus and Daspletosaurus are pretty comparable in weight.

Comparing Allosaurus and Daspletosaurus, Daspletosaurus lacks the arms that Allosaurus has. It's ability to rip and tear (not to mention grapple) is significantly reduced from Allosaurus. That said, it has a much higher ability to crush, as it is a Tyrannosaur, and that group totally specialized towards crushing armor. That said, Daspletosaurus shared it's environment with Gorgosaurus. Given that Daspletosaurus was more lightly built than Gorgosaurus, it is possible Daspletosaurus hunted hadrosaurs more than it did ceratopsians or ankylosaurs. In the case that Daspletosaurus was a hadrosaur hunter rather than an ankylosaur hunter, I don't even think it would go after Stegosaurus. But let's give it the benefit of the doubt and say it could go after ankylosaurs.

We know that Stegosaurus killed Allosaurus on multiple occasions. Allosaur vertebra with holes from Stegosaur spikes in them have been documented, and an Allosaur pubis with a similar hole has also been found (though I'm not sure if it has been documented). Conversely, we've found Stegosaur plates with Allosaur bite marks in them (not sure if they were healed).

More important than that is size. For large specimens of Stegosaurus, weight estimates range from 5 - 7 metric tons. The largest size estimates for Daspletosaurus put them at 3.8 metric tons (larger than the largest Allosaurus), meaning Stegosaurus would outweigh it's opponent by at least 1 ton.

Stegosaurus was up to 5 meters long. Daspletosaurus had about 4 meters from hip to mouth at most.

Stegosaurus has the size advantage, the weight advantage, greater range for attacks, and documented proof that it killed large theropods (Allosaurus).

Daspletosaurus has speed advantage, and was smarter than Stegosaurus as well, but there is no evidence they hunted armored herbivores (ankylosaurs).

Unless this is the world's luckiest Daspletosaurus, I think it better turn tail and head right back to the Cretaceous.

Now, I'm being a bad paleontologist and using Wikipedia as my primary source on this, but I am happy to dig into the literature if anyone wants me to back it up any more.

[ShinGojira14]

That said, Daspletosaurus shared it's environment with Gorgosaurus. Given that Daspletosaurus was more lightly built than Gorgosaurus, it is possible Daspletosaurus hunted hadrosaurs more than it did ceratopsians or ankylosaurs. In the case that Daspletosaurus was a hadrosaur hunter rather than an ankylosaur hunter, I don't even think it would go after Stegosaurus. But let's give it the benefit of the doubt and say it could go after ankylosaurs.

I think you’re getting them mixed up a little bit here:

It was Gorgosaurus that was more lightly built than Daspletosaurus, the latter belonging to the subfamily Tyrannosaurinae while Gorgosaurus belonged to the more lightly-built Albertosaurinae. It’s believed that Gorgosaurus more often went after the Hadrosaurids while Daspletosaurus was better equipped to hunt Ceratopsians.

[Shoopwoop17]

That said, Daspletosaurus shared it's environment with Gorgosaurus. Given that Daspletosaurus was more lightly built than Gorgosaurus, it is possible Daspletosaurus hunted hadrosaurs more than it did ceratopsians or ankylosaurs. In the case that Daspletosaurus was a hadrosaur hunter rather than an ankylosaur hunter, I don't even think it would go after Stegosaurus. But let's give it the benefit of the doubt and say it could go after ankylosaurs.

I think you’re getting them mixed up a little bit here:

It was Gorgosaurus that was more lightly built than Daspletosaurus, the latter belonging to the subfamily Tyrannosaurinae while Gorgosaurus belonged to the more lightly-built Albertosaurinae. It’s believed that Gorgosaurus more often went after the Hadrosaurids while Daspletosaurus was better equipped to hunt Ceratopsians.

Ah, you are correct. Regardless, I feel most of my points still stand. Stegosaurus takes this in my mind.

Another factor I wasn't able to fit in my original post: modern nature. Carnivores rarely attack full grown large herbivores alone, especially when the herbivores are larger than the carnivores. I feel like this fight is the equivalent of a single wolf taking on a grown Elk or Moose. The wolf will not win.

[ShinGojira14]

That said, Daspletosaurus shared it's environment with Gorgosaurus. Given that Daspletosaurus was more lightly built than Gorgosaurus, it is possible Daspletosaurus hunted hadrosaurs more than it did ceratopsians or ankylosaurs. In the case that Daspletosaurus was a hadrosaur hunter rather than an ankylosaur hunter, I don't even think it would go after Stegosaurus. But let's give it the benefit of the doubt and say it could go after ankylosaurs.

I think you’re getting them mixed up a little bit here:

It was Gorgosaurus that was more lightly built than Daspletosaurus, the latter belonging to the subfamily Tyrannosaurinae while Gorgosaurus belonged to the more lightly-built Albertosaurinae. It’s believed that Gorgosaurus more often went after the Hadrosaurids while Daspletosaurus was better equipped to hunt Ceratopsians.

Ah, you are correct. Regardless, I feel most of my points still stand. Stegosaurus takes this in my mind.

Another factor I wasn't able to fit in my original post: modern nature. Carnivores rarely attack full grown large herbivores alone, especially when the herbivores are larger than the carnivores. I feel like this fight is the equivalent of a single wolf taking on a grown Elk or Moose. The wolf will not win.

On average, that is true.

Though there are some rare cases of exceptions; for example, F-06 Female, a wolf from Yellowstone (may she Rest In Peace), was known to take down bull elk by herself, though she was an exceptionally fit individual.

Nonetheless, I agree with you that the Stegosaurus likely possesses the bigger chance of winning.