Kentrosaurus
Kentrosaurus aethiopicus
Kentrosaurus shows that stegosaurs developed a distinctive body form in Late Jurassic African ecosystems.
Image: LoKiLeCh · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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Characteristics
- Scientific name
- Kentrosaurus aethiopicus
- Period
- Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian)
- Lived
- 152–145 Ma (152 million years ago)
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Habitat
- Plains, Forest
- Length (estimate)
- 4.5 m
- Mass (estimate)
- 700 kg
Description
Kentrosaurus was a smaller stegosaur with bony plates and long spikes running from its shoulders to its tail. The tail spikes probably provided an effective defence against predators. Its low head and teeth are consistent with feeding on low-growing plants, although its precise diet is not directly known. The best-known skeletons came from German expeditions to Tendaguru in the early twentieth century.
Habitat
Seasonally wet coastal plains in East Africa.
Fossil sites
Tendaguru, Lindi Region
Tendaguru Formation
Cultural profile: Tanzania →
Contemporaries in the database
Sources: Kentrosaurus