A living map of deep time
Explore 230 million years of dinosaur evolution
Navigate an interactive phylogenetic tree, discover evolutionary relationships, and learn about the dinosaurs that shaped prehistoric life.
Evidence-led•Source-linked•Uncertainty-aware
208 connected taxaLive data preview
Featured specimen
Meet Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis
Triassic · carnivore
Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis
A large, lightly built Late Triassic predator from Argentina with a long low skull, serrated teeth, grasping three-clawed hands and a mixture of primitive and theropod-like skeletal features.
Length~5 m
Mass~0.25 t
CountryArgentina
The collection
A database built from relationships
72Species
71Genera
65Clades
20Countries
349Sources
56Formations
Deep time
Three periods. One changing world.
Filter the tree by geological period and see how dinosaur diversity unfolded. Dates are expressed in millions of years ago.
Ma = million years ago. Boundaries and taxon ranges are approximate.
Latest field notes
Recently added
Evolutionary atlas
Major dinosaur groups
01
Theropoda
Theropoda is a diverse lineage of mostly bipedal dinosaurs that includes all living birds.
Explore group 02Sauropodomorpha
sauropodomorpha is an evolutionary group represented in the dinosaur phylogenetic tree. Its exact boundaries may vary between scientific analyses.
Explore group 03Maniraptora
maniraptora is an evolutionary group represented in the dinosaur phylogenetic tree. Its exact boundaries may vary between scientific analyses.
Explore group 04Thyreophora
thyreophora is an evolutionary group represented in the dinosaur phylogenetic tree. Its exact boundaries may vary between scientific analyses.
Explore group 05Ornithopoda
ornithopoda is an evolutionary group represented in the dinosaur phylogenetic tree. Its exact boundaries may vary between scientific analyses.
Explore group 06Ceratopsia
ceratopsia is an evolutionary group represented in the dinosaur phylogenetic tree. Its exact boundaries may vary between scientific analyses.
Explore groupHow to read the tree
What is a phylogenetic tree?
It is a testable hypothesis about evolutionary relationships. Each fork represents a shared ancestor; nearby tips share a more recent ancestor than distant tips. It is not a ladder of progress, and its branches can change when scientists analyse new evidence.
Learn the essentialsDinosaur of the day
Pachyrhinosaurus canadensis
A large Canadian centrosaurine whose nose carried a broad roughened boss instead of a conventional horn, known from multiple partial skulls and regional bonebeds.
Open today’s profileScientific history
Recently described in this dataset
Begin at the root
Every branch is a question about the past.
Start with Dinosauria, follow the evidence, and discover where every species belongs.
Open the full tree