Stegosauridae is a clade of Thyreophoran dinosaurs (armoured dinosaurs) within the suborder Stegosauria. The clade is defined as all species of dinosaurs more closely related to Stegosaurus than Huayangosaurus. The name ‘Stegosauridae’ is thus a stem-based name taken from the well-represented genus – Stegosaurus (meaning ‘roofed lizard’). Fossil evidence of stegosaurids, dating from the Middle Jurassic through the Late Cretaceous, have been recovered from North America, Eurasia and Africa. On the other hand, Stegosauridae’s sister clade, huayangosaurids, can be traced only to the Middle Jurassic.