Dacentrurus

Name Origin

Spike Tail

Family

Stegosauridae

Classification

Diapsida, Ornithischia, Thyreophora

Habitat (Discovery Location)

United Kingdom, France, Spain, Portugal

Period

Approximately 154 to 150 million years ago (Late Jurassic)

Length

Approximately 8 meters

Weight

Approximately 5 tons

Diet

Herbivore (Plant-eater)

Description

This was the largest stegosaur in Europe.

Like Stegosaurus, which lived in North America during the same period, it had bony plates along its back and sharp, thick spines on its tail.

Its limbs were straight like pillars, and its femur was much longer than its tibia, a characteristic of slow-walking animals.
In exchange for its lack of speed, Dacentrurus had a powerful tail that it could swing from side to side.
If the long spines on its tail had hit a theropod’s leg, they would have certainly pierced the bone.