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Around 150 million years ago, it lumbered around an ancient subtropical forest in Wyoming, while keeping its spiked tail at the ready to swat any predator that dared cross its path.

And now today, 'Sophie the Stegosaurus has a new home at London's Natural History Museum, where its presence dominates the Earth Hall.

With 85 per cent of her skeleton intact, the specimen is the world's most complete example of the recognisable dinosaur, famous for the huge plates cresting its back, and the four spear-like horns on the end of its tail.

A new home: Sophie the Stegosaurus (pictured) has a new home at the London's Natural History Museum, where its presence dominates the Earth Hall. With 85 per cent of her skeleton intact, it is the world's most complete specimen of the instantly recognisable dinosaur

Although museum scientists do not actually know the sex of their Stegosaurus, the specimen has been informally named Sophie after the daughter of the hedge fund manager whose donation of an unknown amount of money made the acquisition possible.

At 18 feet (5.6 metres) long and 9.5 feet (2.9 metres) tall, Sophie is relatively small compared with the largest of her species which measured up to (29 feet) nine metres.  

Poised on a small stage just inside the museum's Exhibition Road entrance, with her tail up, front body lowered, and open jaws pointing at arriving visitors, the specimen brings the Cretaceous era alive.

Small but mighty: At 18 feet (5.6 metres) long and 9.5 feet (2.9 metres) tall, Sophie is relatively small compared with the largest of the species, which measured up to (29 feet) nine metres. An illustration of a Stegosaurus (foreground) is pictured

Head case: Sophie's skull (pictured) is one of the few parts that has been replaced with a replica for museum visitors.  The real skull, which is incredibly delicate, is made up of 50 tiny bones and is being kept behind closed doors for the scientists to study the individual pieces

Sophie is the first complete dinosaur specimen to go on display at the Natural History Museum in nearly 100 years. 

It joins 'Dippy' the Diplodocus, whose massive 85 foot (26 metre) replica skeleton has stood in the museum's central Hintze Hall since 1905.

Professor Paul Barrett, the museum's chief dinosaur scientist, who found Sophie while attending an international fossil fair in the US, said: 'Stegosaurus fossil finds are rare. 

'This one inspires genuine wonder.

'Having the world's most complete example here for research means we can begin to uncover the secrets behind the evolution and behaviour of this intriguing dinosaur species.'

The specimen was a young adult when it died 150 million years ago.

Its 360 individual fossilised bones were discovered in 2003 at Red Canyon Ranch in Wyoming, by palaeontologist Bob Simon.

Dr Charlotte Brassey, Research Assistant at the Natural History Museum told MailOnline: 'We're not sure why it's so well preserved, but we're researching the rocks around it with geologists at Imperial College to study the animal's palaeo environment'. 

Meet Sophie: Although museum scientists do not actually know the sex of their Stegosaurus, 'she' has been informally named Sophie after the daughter of the hedge fund manager whose donation of an unknown amount of money made the acquisition possible

Flat pack: Sophie was a young adult when it died 150 million years ago. Her 360 individual fossilised bones were discovered in 2003 at Red Canyon Ranch in Wyoming, by palaeontologist Bob Simon. They are shown here laid out on a floor before being assembled for public display

Professor Barrett added: 'We aim to flesh out the details of the stegosaurus' life.

'Although iconic, it's an animal that we don't know much about.

'It's only represented by six skeletons, many of which are incomplete and were found squashed flat.'

The dinosaur was last described 100 years ago, before many modern analysis techniques were developed.

Many of Sophie's bones have already been laser-scanned and put through a CT scanner to create computer models that can be used to test the strength of various bones, and estimate its weight.

Their first aim is to work out the weight of the animal and an announcement is expected soon.

Researchers are especially interested in the way the dinosaur moved, how much it ate, how fast it grew and the function of its 19 bony back plates, which still remain uncertain.

Professor Barrett said: 'Although we know Stegosaurus was a plant eater, we don't know exactly what sort of plants it might have been eating or how well it was able to use its feeble looking teeth to eat and support a body weighing a couple of tonnes.'

Dr Brassey added: 'Sophie ate low-lying herbs, shrubs and grasses - certainly a lot to fuel its large body.

'It probably wasn't very good at chewing and swallowed food almost whole, which then fermented in its stomach'

Hi-tech: Many of Sophie's bones have already been laser-scanned and put through a CT scanner to create computer models (pictured) that can be used to test the strength of various bones and estimate its weight

Walking the walk: Professor Barrett said that researchers will also reconstruct models of the dinosaur's hind limbs and hips to work out how it walked. 'Stegosaurus moved on all fours very slowly, we think. It was a fairly athletic dinosaur,' he said

Professor Barrett continued that researchers will also reconstruct models of the dinosaur's hind limbs and hips to work out how it walked.

'Stegosaurus moved on all fours very slowly, we think. It was a fairly athletic dinosaur,' he said.

'A good modern analogue is something like a rhino, although a rhino is capable of short bursts of speed.'

The spiked tail is a defining feature of Stegosaurus, and scientists know it was used as a formidable weapon.

One specimen of Allosaurus - a large two-legged predator dinosaur pre-dating Tyrannosaurus rex by about 80 million years - bears puncture wounds that match the points of Stegosaurus tail spikes.

'An obvious deterrent was the spikes at the end of the tail,' Professor Barrett said.

'They were even longer in real life, a quarter to a third longer, because the bones would have been covered in a sheath of horn.

'They were possibly quite sharp and quite nasty things. The tail was quite long and muscular and could probably have been swung from side to side with some force.'

Turning to the back plates, he added: 'The function of the plates is quite controversial.

'An early idea was that they were a form of armour, but most people don't believe that any more, because they were quite thin.

It's possible they provided a kind of passive defence because they would have made the dinosaur look a lot bigger from a distance.

Solving a mystery: Scientists hope to reveal what the dinosaur's spinal plates were used for. Theories include armour for fighting and a passive defence to make them seem larger to predators

Armed and dangerous: The spiked tail is a defining feature of Stegosaurus and scientists know it was used as a formidable weapon (illustrated). 'One specimen of Allosaurus (also shown) bears puncture wounds that match the points of Stegosaurus tail spikes,' Professor Barrett said

'Alternatively they could have been used as radiators. The plates have a very large surface area and we know there were a lot of blood vessels running through them. Or they might have been used for display, like a peacock's tail.

'We're going to find out how strong the plates are, and we're modelling how the air might flow around them.'

Just one of the dinosaur's 19 plates is a replica for display purposes and they would have been perfect if not for an unfortunate accident early on in the excavation, when a digger destroyed one of them.

The skeleton (pictured) is 85 per cent real, with replica parts including tiny toe and hand bones as one plate (and the skull when on display)

'The plates are extremely fragile and archaeologists first set out lacquering them with glue to keep them in one piece,' Dr Brassey said.

Sophie's skull is one of the few parts that has been replaced with a replica for museum visitors.

The real skull,  made up of 50 tiny bones, is being kept behind closed doors for the scientists to study.

Dr Brassey explained that other replica pieces include small bones in the animal's toes and hands, and one of the plates.

'All the individual bones are separated and can be slotted together like a big Meccano set,' Professor Barrett said.

'That means we can conduct studies of the skull that would previously have been impossible.

'We can look at the internal joints and work out how hard the jaws would have been able to bite.

'We're looking at its strength and how responsive it was to different bite forces.'

Scientists believe that eating would have taken up most of the dinosaur's time.

The head of Stegosaurus was strikingly small in comparison with its body, containing a brain about the size of a tangerine.

Those tiny jaws would have had to be working almost constantly for the animal to devour enough food.

The sex of the dinosaur is unknown despite its female name, and Dr Brassey said that it would be a 'destructive' task to find out, meaning the dinosaur's sex may remain a mystery.

Sir Michael Dixon, director of the Natural History Museum, said: 'We hope that this amazing specimen will inspire a new generation of young visitors to learn more about the natural world and our place within it.'

Sophie will be on public display at the museum from tomorrow among its eight million fossils.  

Hungry but not brainy: The head of Stegosaurus (pictured) was strikingly small in comparison with its body, containing a brain about the size of a tangerine. Those tiny jaws would have had to be working almost constantly for the animal to devour enough food