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plated dinosaur
Kentrosaurus
Say it like this: “KEN-troh-SOR-uhs”
Kentrosaurus aethiopicus
Kentrosaurus ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Late Jurassic. Bones have been found in Tanzania.
- When
- Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian · Tithonian) · roughly 154.8 to 143.1 million years ago
- Named in
- 1915 · Hennig, E.
- Hip height
- 1.1 m · 4 ft
- Length
- 4–4.5 m · 13–15 ft
- Weight
- 0.7–1.6 tonnes
- Found in
- Tanzania · Tendaguru
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Four legs
- Kind
- plated dinosaur · Stegosaur
- Family branch
- Stegosauridae
The story in short
The genus Kentrosaurus dates to 1915, the year E. Hennig described it. The name means “prickle lizard.”
Fossils referred to Kentrosaurus date to the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian · Tithonian), roughly 154.8 to 143.1 million years ago. Finds come from Tanzania, including the Tendaguru Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.
Published estimates put Kentrosaurus at a length near 4–4.5 m, hips about 1.1 m high, and a body mass around 0.7–1.6 tonnes.
On the family tree it sits in Stegosauridae, among the plated dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Alcovasaurus
Alcovasaurus longispinus
Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian · Tithonian) · roughly 154.8 to 143.1 million years ago
Paranthodon
Paranthodon africanus
Early Cretaceous (Berriasian · Valanginian) · roughly 143.1 to 132.6 million years ago
Tuojiangosaurus
Tuojiangosaurus multispinus
Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Bajocian–Oxfordian) · roughly 170.9 to 154.8 million years ago