Genus
Valid Extinct

Dacentrurus

Lucas 1902
Etymology Queue très pointue

Dacentrurus is an extinct genus of stegosaurian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic and perhaps Early Cretaceous of Europe. Its type species, D. armatus, was named in 1875 as Omosaurus armatus, based on a skeleton found in a clay pit in the Kimmeridge Clay in Swindon, England. In 1902 the genus was renamed Dacentrurus because the name Omosaurus had already been used for a phytosaur in 1856. After 1875, half a dozen other species would be named but perhaps only Dacentrurus armatus is valid.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
31
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Dacentrurus
click to enlarge
Dacentrurus NHM © the paleobear · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
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Ornithischia Unranked clade
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Parapredentata Unranked clade
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Saphornithischia Unranked clade
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Prionodontia Unranked clade
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Genasauria Unranked clade
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Thyreophora Unranked clade
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Thyreophoroidea Superfamily
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Eurypoda Unranked clade
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Stegosauria Unranked clade
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Stegosauridae Family
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Neostegosauria Unranked clade
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Dacentrurinae Subfamily
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Dacentrurus Genus
Measurements
Length
8,2 m ⓘ
Dacentrurus armatus
6 m ⓘ
Mass
3 600 kg ⓘ
Dacentrurus armatus
Fossil sites 31 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇵🇹 Portugal
12
🇪🇸 Spain
12
🇫🇷 France
4
🇺🇸 United States
2
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
1
Geological formations
Villar del Arzobispo
11
Lourinhã
6
Alcobaça
2
Morrison
2
Argiles d'Octeville
2
Freixial
2
Praia da Amoreira-Porto Novo
1
Kimmeridge Clay
1
Piedrahita de Muñó
1
Temporal distribution
Hauterivian (132.6–125.77 Ma)
1
Berriasian (143.1–137.05 Ma)
1
Tithonian (149.2–143.1 Ma)
17
Kimmeridgian (154.8–149.2 Ma)
12
Species (4)
Dacentrurus armatus 155 Ma
Miragaia longicollum subjective synonym of Dacentrurus armatus 155 Ma
Miragaia longispinus 155 Ma
Omosaurus lennieri nomen dubium, species not entered Dacentrurus 155 Ma
Synonyms (4)
Miragaia subjective synonym of Dacentrurus
Natronasaurus subjective synonym of Dacentrurus
Omosaurus replaced by Dacentrurus
Omosaurus lennieri nomen dubium, species not entered Dacentrurus
News 1
Stunning 150-million-year-old stegosaur skull rewrites dinosaur evolution
fossil Dacentrurus Dinosauria Stegosauria discovery +2
A spectacular dinosaur discovery in Spain is giving scientists a rare new look inside the world of stegosaurs. Paleontologists uncovered the best-preserved stegosaur skull ever found in Europe, belonging to the iconic plated dinosaur Dacentrurus armatus, which roamed Earth around 150 million years ago. Because stegosaur skulls are extremely fragile and almost never survive intact, the fossil is helping researchers uncover previously unknown details about how these armored giants evolved.
17/05/2026 sciencedaily
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
F. A. Lucas. 1902. Paleontological notes. The generic name Omosaurus. A new generic name for Stegosaurus marshi. Science, new series 16(402):435
Bibliography (18)
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F. Costa and O. Mateus. 2019. Dacentrurine stegosaurs (Dinosauria): a new specimen of Miragaia longicollum from the Late Jurassic of Portugal resolves taxonomical validity and shows the occurrence of the clade in North America. PLoS One 14(11):e0224263:1-124 DOI ↗
P. M. Galton and K. Carpenter. 2016. The plated dinosaur Stegosaurus longispinus Gilmore, 1914 (Dinosauria: Ornithischia; Upper Jurassic, western USA), type species of Alcovasaurus n. gen. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Abhandlungen 279(2):185-208 DOI ↗
A. Cobos, R. Royo-Torres, and L. Alcalá. 2014. Nuevos restos fósiles del estegosaurio Dacentrurus en el yacimiento Barrihonda-El Humero de Riodeva (Teruel, España) [New fossil remains of the stegosaur Dacentrurus in the Barrihondo-El Humero locality of Riodeva (Teruel, Spain)]. XXX Jornadas de la Sociedad Española de Paleontología. ¡Fundamental! 24:47-49
A. Cobos and F. Gascó. 2013. New vertebral remains of the stegosaurian dinosaur Dacentrurus from Riodeva (Teruel, Spain). Geogaceta 53:17-20
J. Company, X. Pereda Suberbiola, and J. I. Ruiz-Omeñaca. 2010. New stegosaurian (Ornithischia, Thyreophora) remains from Jurassic-Cretaceous transition beds of Valencia province (Southwestern Iberian Range, Spain). Journal of Iberian Geology 36(2):243-252 DOI ↗
O. Mateus, S. C. R. Maidment, and N. A. Christiansen. 2009. A new long-necked 'sauropod-mimic' stegosaur and the evolution of the plated dinosaurs. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 276:1815-1821 DOI ↗
S. C. R. Maidment, D. B. Norman, and P. M. Barrett, P. Upchurch. 2008. Systematics and phylogeny of Stegosauria (Dinosauria: Ornithischia). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 6(4):367-407 DOI ↗
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P. M. Galton. 1991. Postcranial remains of stegosaurian dinosaur Dacentrurus from Upper Jurassic of France and Portugal. Geologica et Palaeontologica 25:299-327
P. M. Galton and G Boiné. 1980. A stegosaurian dinosaur femur from the Kimmeridge Beds (Upper Jurassic) of the Cap de la Hève, Normandy. Bulletin trimestriel de la Société géologique de Normandie et Amis Muséum du Havre 17(4 (4e tr.)):31-35
A. F. d. Lapparent and G. Zbyszewski. 1957. Les dinosauriens du Portugal [The dinosaurs of Portugal]. Mémoires des Services Géologiques du Portugal, nouvelle série 2:1-63
C. W. Gilmore. 1914. Osteology of the armored Dinosauria in the United States National Museum, with special reference to the genus Stegosaurus. United States National Museum Bulletin 89:1-136 DOI ↗
B. F. Nopcsa. 1911. Omosaurus lennieri, un nouveau dinosaurien du Cap de la Hève [Omosaurus lennieri, a new dinosaur from Cap de la Hève]. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de Normandie 30:23-42
H.-E. Sauvage. 1880. Synopsis des poissons et des reptiles des terrains jurassiques de Boulogne-sur-Mer [Synopsis of the fishes and reptiles from the Jurassic deposits of Boulogne-sur-Mer]. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France, 3e série 8:524-547
R. Owen. 1875. Monographs on the fossil Reptilia of the Mesozoic formations. Part II. (Genera Bothriospondylus, Cetiosaurus, Omosaurus). 29:15-93 DOI ↗