Dinosaurs A to Z
Ceratopsidae

Centrosaurus sentroh-SƆːRUHS

"pointed lizard"

Generic ceratopsian body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Centrosaurus 5.5 m (18 ft) long
as long as 4 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic ceratopsian body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Centrosaurus
Length
5.5 m (18 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (76.5–75.5 Mya)
Place
Canada
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Ceratopsidae Dinosauria Ornithischia Cerapoda Marginocephalia Big horned ceratopsians of the Late Cretaceous.
Centrosaurus reconstruction by ABelov2014
Reconstruction · ABelov2014 (CC-BY)

Centrosaurus ( ; “pointed lizard”) is a genus of centrosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur from the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous of Canada. Its remains have been found in the Dinosaur Park Formation, dating from 76.5 to 75.5 million years ago. The type and only species seen as valid today is Centrosaurus apertus.

What we know

  • Named by Lambe 1904.
  • Body length estimated at about 5.5 m.
  • Fossils found in Canada.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Centrosaurus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.