Name:
Kentrosaurus (Greek for "spiked lizard"); pronounced ken-tro-SORE-us
Habitat:
Forests of eastern Africa
Historical Period:
Late Jurassic (155-150 million years ago)
Size and Weight:
About 16 feet long and 2 tons
Diet:
Plants
Distinguishing Characteristics:
Sharp spikes lining back; hind limbs longer than forelimbs
About Kentrosaurus:
Although it may seem odd that Kentrosaurus--a spiked plant-eater that belonged to the same family as the more famous Stegosaurus--lived in Africa, you have to remember that 150 million years ago, North America (where Stegosaurus lived) and Africa (where Kentrosaurus lived) were both part of the same supercontinent, Pangaea.
Stegosaurus was no honor student, but if anything, Kentrosaurus appears to have had an even smaller brain. This stegosaur's front legs were shorter than its hind legs, not because it walked on two feet, but because it needed to keep its head close to the ground (in a quadrupedal stance) to reach low-lying vegetation.
