Centrosaurus
genus of reptiles (fossil)
Centrosaurus ( SEN-troh-SOR-əs; lit. '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.
Discovery and naming
The first Centrosaurus remains were discovered and named by paleontologist Lawrence Lambe in strata along the Red Deer River in Alberta. The name Centrosaurus means "pointed lizard" (from Greek kentron, κέντρον, "point" and sauros, σαῦρος, "lizard") and refers to, the series of small hornlets placed along the margin of their frills, not the nasal horns (which were unknown when the dinosaur was named). The genus is not to be confused with the stegosaur Kentrosaurus, the name of which is derived from the same Greek word.
Later, vast bonebeds of Centrosaurus were found in Dinosaur Provincial Park, also in Alberta. Some of these beds extend for hundreds of meters and contain thousands of individuals of all ages and all levels of completion. Scientists have speculated that the high density and number of individuals would be explained if they had perished while trying to cross a flooded river. A discovery of thousands of Centrosaurus fossils near the town of Hilda, Alberta, is believed to be the largest bed of dinosaur bones ever discovered.
“Centrosaurus” enters the record as genus of reptiles (fossil). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Centrosaurus, genus and reptiles can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Centrosaurus” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Centrosaurus, genus and reptiles provides the most credible route into that argument.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q131589. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.
Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Centrosaurus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.