在1960年代,William Lee Stokes與助手詹姆斯·麥迪遜(James Madsen)曾在猶他州的克利夫蘭洛伊德恐龍挖掘場發現大量異特龍化石。在1970年代,麥迪遜發現新種類的恐龍化石。在1974年,麥迪遜將這些化石命名為史托龍,模式種是克里夫蘭史托龍(S. langhami),屬名是以地質學家William Lee Stokes為名,種名則是以猶他州克利夫蘭鎮為名[1]。
正模標本(腸骨)的長度約20公分,顯示史托龍是種小型暴龍類。麥迪遜估計成年史托龍的身長約4公尺[1]。在2010年,葛瑞格利·保羅(Gregory S. Paul)推測史托龍的身長約2.5公尺,體重約60公斤[4]。在2012年,R.B.J. Benson等人定義史托龍的獨有衍徵:在腸骨外側突緣、臀部關節的上方處有垂直稜脊,稜脊往腸骨背側大幅延伸[5]。
^ 2.02.1Chure D.; Madsen, James. An unusual braincase (?Stokesosaurus clevelandi) from the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, Utah (Morrison Formation; Late Jurassic). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 1998, 18 (1): 115–125. doi:10.1080/02724634.1998.10011038.
^K. Carpenter, C.A. Miles, and K.C. Cloward, 2005, "New small theropod from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Wyoming", In: K. Carpenter (ed.), The Carnivorous Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press, Bloomington pp. 23-48
^Paul, G.S., 2010, The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, Princeton University Press p. 100
^ 5.05.15.2Brusatte, S.L. and Benson, R.B.J. (In press). "The systematics of Late Jurassic tyrannosauroids (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from Europe and North America." Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, (in press). doi:10.4202/app.2011.0141
^Britt, B., 1991, "Theropods of Dry Mesa Quarry (Morrison Formation, Late Jurassic), Colorado, with emphasis on the osteology of Torvosaurus tanneri", Brigham Young University Geology Studies, 37: 1-72
^Foster and Chure. An ilium of a juvenile Stokesosaurus (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic: Kimmeridgian), Meade County, South Dakota. Brigham Young University Geology Studies. 2000, 45: 5–10.
^Oliver W. M. Rauhut. (2003). "A tyrannosauroid dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal". Palaeontology46(5): 903–910
^Turner, C.E. and Peterson, F., (1999). "Biostratigraphy of dinosaurs in the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of the Western Interior, U.S.A." Pp. 77–114 in Gillette, D.D. (ed.), Vertebrate Paleontology in Utah. Utah Geological Survey Miscellaneous Publication 99-1.
^Foster, J. (2007). "Appendix." Jurassic West: The Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation and Their World. Indiana University Press. pp. 327-329.
^ 11.011.111.2Benson, R.B.J. (2008). "New information on Stokesosaurus, a tyrannosauroid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from North America and the United Kingdom." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 28(3):732-750. doi: 10.1671/0272-4634(2008)28[732:NIOSAT]2.0.CO;2.
^Galton, P.M. and Powell, H.P., 1980, "The ornithischian dinosaur Camptosaurus prestwichii from the Upper Jurassic of England", Palaeontology, 23: 411-443
^Foster, J. (2007). Jurassic West: The Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation and Their World. Indiana University Press. 389pp.