Kentrosaurus
Ken-tro-saw-rus
Name meaning: Prickle lizard
Time Period: Kimmeridgian (Late Jurassic) 152 Mya
Locations: Tanzania-Tendaguru formation
Taxonomy: Ornithischia-Thyreophora-Stegosauria
Subspecies: K. aethiopicus
Characteristics ~ ~ ~ ~
Kentrosaurus grew to around 5 meters long and weighed between 1,500 and 3,500 pounds. Kentrosaurus had around eight pairs of plates along its back that around the waist, transitioned into spikes towards the tail. About 6 pairs covered the tail and would have completely protected its backside. The tail had around forty vertebrae alone, making it highly flexible and able to be swung at almost 180 degrees of its backside at up to 30 miles per hour. As well as a pair of spikes extending from the shoulders, it seems excessively spikey often being compared to a porcupine. Kentrosaurus were herding animals that used each other as protection by facing inwards to form a circle of spikes. Kentrosaurus had a beak that was made to shear off low-growing vegetation and tree leaves, as its neck was long and flexible, just like its tail. Kentrosaurus shared a life similar to its more popular Western relative Stegosaurus, sharing predators like Allosaurus, Ceratosaurus, and Torvosaurus. The African species of Brachiosaurus and Dryosaurus are Giraffititan and Dysalotosaurus.
History & Fossils ~ ~ ~ ~
Kentrosaurus was found in 1910 but was not described for 5 years and was nearly renamed because it shared a similar-sounding name to Centrosaurus: “pointed lizard” only different by one letter. Kentrosaurus describer Edwin Hennig proposed the name Kenturosaurus “pointed tail lizard” and Hungarian paleontologist Franz Nopcsa gave the name Doryphorosaurus: "lance-bearing lizard".
Media Deptictions ~ ~ ~ ~
Jurassic World Franchise Kentrosaurus in Jurassic World Evolution one is practically a reskinned Stegosaurus because it was the same size as the larger Stego and had the same rig. Then when Jurassic World Evo2 came around they shrunk him back to his original size. Then the Netflix show Camp Cretaceous made their Kentrosaurus also just a reskinned stegosaurus (so lazy). Special shoutout to the Jwa Kentrosaurus because I love its pattern and the Jwtg is alright too.
