Carnotaurus vs Kentrosaurus

A detailed side-by-side comparison of Carnotaurus and Kentrosaurus, covering size, diet, classification, geologic period, and discovery history.

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Side-by-Side Comparison

Property Carnotaurus Kentrosaurus
Scientific Name Carnotaurus sastrei Kentrosaurus aethiopicus
Classification Theropoda Stegosauria
Period Cretaceous Late Jurassic Late
Diet Carnivore Herbivore
Length 7.5 m 4.5 m
Height 2.5 m 1.5 m
Weight 1.4 t 700 kg
Discovery Year 1985 1915
Discovery Location Chubut Province, Argentina Tendaguru Formation, Tanzania
Named By Jose Bonaparte Edwin Hennig
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Size Comparison

Carnotaurus 7.5 m

roughly the length of a large SUV

Kentrosaurus 4.5 m

roughly the length of a large SUV

Weight Comparison

Carnotaurus 1.4 t

comparable to 1.4 small cars

Kentrosaurus 700 kg

about 10 adult humans

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Timeline Comparison

Carnotaurus
100.5 Mya Cretaceous Late (Mesozoic) 66.0 Mya
Kentrosaurus
161.5 Mya Jurassic Late (Mesozoic) 145.0 Mya
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Diet Comparison

Carnotaurus

Carnivore

Carnotaurus was a meat-eating predator, hunting other animals for food.

Kentrosaurus

Herbivore

Kentrosaurus was a plant-eater, feeding on vegetation like ferns, conifers, and cycads.

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Classification Comparison

Carnotaurus

Clade: Saurischia

Group: Theropoda

(Beast feet)

Kentrosaurus

Clade: Thyreophora

Group: Stegosauria

(Plated dinosaurs)

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Did You Know?

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Carnotaurus was about 1.7x longer than Kentrosaurus.

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Carnotaurus was a carnivore while Kentrosaurus was a herbivore.

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Carnotaurus lived during the Cretaceous Late while Kentrosaurus lived during the Jurassic Late, separated by roughly 96 million years.

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Kentrosaurus was discovered 70 years earlier, in 1915.

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Carnotaurus belonged to Theropoda while Kentrosaurus belonged to Stegosauria.

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