Coelophysis vs Kentrosaurus

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

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Side-by-Side Comparison

Property Coelophysis Kentrosaurus
Scientific Name Coelophysis bauri Kentrosaurus aethiopicus
Classification Theropoda Stegosauria
Period Triassic Late Jurassic Late
Diet Carnivore Herbivore
Length 3.0 m 4.5 m
Height 1.0 m 1.5 m
Weight 20 kg 700 kg
Discovery Year 1889 1915
Discovery Location Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, USA Tendaguru Formation, Tanzania
Named By Edward Drinker Cope Edwin Hennig
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Size Comparison

Coelophysis 3.0 m

about the size of a human adult

Kentrosaurus 4.5 m

roughly the length of a large SUV

Weight Comparison

Coelophysis 20 kg

lighter than a human adult

Kentrosaurus 700 kg

about 10 adult humans

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Timeline Comparison

Coelophysis
237.0 Mya Triassic Late (Mesozoic) 201.4 Mya
Kentrosaurus
161.5 Mya Jurassic Late (Mesozoic) 145.0 Mya
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Diet Comparison

Coelophysis

Carnivore

Coelophysis 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

Coelophysis

Clade: Saurischia

Group: Theropoda

(Beast feet)

Kentrosaurus

Clade: Thyreophora

Group: Stegosauria

(Plated dinosaurs)

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Did You Know?

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Kentrosaurus was about 1.5x longer than Coelophysis.

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Kentrosaurus weighed roughly 35x more than Coelophysis.

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Coelophysis was a carnivore while Kentrosaurus was a herbivore.

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Coelophysis lived during the Triassic Late while Kentrosaurus lived during the Jurassic Late, separated by roughly 40 million years.

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Coelophysis was discovered 26 years earlier, in 1889.

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Coelophysis belonged to Theropoda while Kentrosaurus belonged to Stegosauria.

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