Kentrosaurus Facts
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Height | 1.5m |
| Length | 5m |
| Weight | 2 tonnes |
| Speed | 10 km/h |
| Environment | Land |
| Era | Jurassic |
| Period | Late Jurassic |
| Type | Stegosaur |
| Location | Tanzania |

| Diet | Herbivore |
| Height | 1.5m |
| Length | 5m |
| Weight | 2 tonnes |
| Speed | 10 km/h |
| Environment | Land |
| Era | Jurassic |
| Period | Late Jurassic |
| Type | Stegosaur |
| Location | Tanzania |
Kentrosaurus was a remarkable stegosaur that roamed the ancient landscapes of what is now Tanzania during the Late Jurassic period, roughly 161 to 149 million years ago. This distinctive dinosaur measured about 5 metres in length and stood approximately 1.5 metres tall at the hip, making it smaller than its famous North American cousin Stegosaurus but no less impressive.
What made Kentrosaurus truly extraordinary was its unique defensive armour. Unlike other stegosaurs that relied primarily on plates, Kentrosaurus combined both plates and spikes in a distinctive arrangement. The front half of its back was adorned with triangular plates, whilst the rear half bristled with long, sharp spikes. Its tail was tipped with four formidable spikes, and most unusually for a stegosaur, it had prominent spikes protruding from its shoulders.
As a herbivore, Kentrosaurus browsed on ferns, cycads, and conifers that grew in the lush Late Jurassic forests of East Africa. Its small head housed a simple beak perfect for cropping vegetation, whilst its low-slung posture allowed it to feed on plants close to the ground. Recent studies suggest that Kentrosaurus was actually quite advanced among stegosaurs, closely related to Stegosaurus rather than being a primitive early form as once thought.
Kentrosaurus had a unique combination of triangular plates along the front half of its back and long spikes on the rear half, creating a distinctive transition from plates to spikes. Most notably, it possessed prominent shoulder spikes, a feature rarely seen in other stegosaurs.
Kentrosaurus likely lived in small herds, using its impressive array of spikes and plates for defence against predators like Ceratosaurus. The shoulder spikes would have been particularly effective weapons when the animal turned sideways to present its armoured flanks to attackers.
Kentrosaurus has appeared in several documentaries about African dinosaurs and features in various dinosaur encyclopaedias, though it remains less famous than Stegosaurus in popular media.
Kentrosaurus was first described by Edwin Hennig in 1915. The original fossils were discovered at Lindi Region, Tanzania.