Kentrosaurus

Kentrosaurus ("prickled lizard" ) was a stegosaurid dinosaur from the Jurassic Period of Tanzania.

Description
Kentrosaurus measured about 5 metres in length. It was covered with a multitude of different spikes and plates on its shoulders and tail, and running down its back.

Classification
There is only one known species of Kentrosaurus, K. aethiopicus.

Discovery
Fossils of Kentrosaurus were found in the Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania in 1909, and they were described by the German paleontologist Edwin Hennig in 1915. There was initial confusion over the name, because it looked very similar to the name Centrosaurus, which belonged to a North American ceratopsian. To remedy this, Hennig renamed the animal Kentrurosaurus, while the Hungarian paleontologist Franz Nopcsa renamed it Doryphorosaurus. However, as the spelling and pronunciation of both names are different, the replacement names were unnecessary, and Kentrosaurus remains the valid name in use today.

During subsequent years, several other specimens were found, but many of these were destroyed during World War II.

Diet
﻿Kentrosaurus was a herbivore, like other stegosaurids. It was likely a low-level browser, although it may have been able to rear up on its hind legs to reach the vegetation of trees.