Dinosaur directory

A boss-faced centrosaurine from Montana with roughened masses of bone over its nose and eyes and a pair of long, outward-curving frill spikes.

A giant Early Cretaceous predator from Oklahoma and Texas, distinguished by a deep skull, powerful three-fingered arms and a ridge of tall spines along its neck, back and tail.

A giant armoured titanosaur from the final few million years of the Cretaceous, widespread across the southwestern United States.

An early centrosaurine from Alberta whose long brow horns contrast with its low nasal ornament and short, hook-edged frill.

A lightly built Canadian tyrannosaur known from skulls, skeletons and a remarkable multi-individual bonebed spanning juvenile to adult growth stages.

A large Morrison Formation predator with paired brow crests, a lightly built skull, serrated teeth and powerful three-fingered forelimbs. Its scientific identity was stabilised with a new type specimen in 2023.

A small, short-necked Patagonian sauropod whose paired cervical neural spines formed one of the most extraordinary silhouettes in dinosaur evolution.

A huge, broad-bodied ankylosaurid from the final two million years of the Cretaceous, protected by bony armour and armed with a stiff-handled tail club. Despite its fame, no complete skeleton is known.

A powerfully built Late Jurassic diplodocid known from the nearly complete Carnegie Quarry skeleton CM 3018, with an exceptionally thick neck, stout limbs and a long tapering tail.

A crow-sized feathered avialan from Bavaria's Late Jurassic lagoon deposits, combining flight feathers and wings with teeth, clawed fingers and a long bony tail. Often called the 'first bird', it is better understood as one of several close relatives near the origin of birds.

An immense but very incompletely known titanosaur from Argentina's Huincul Formation. Its enormous back vertebrae and partial sacrum establish gigantic size, while most familiar full-body proportions remain reconstructed from relatives.

One of the largest known unenlagiine raptors, distinguished by a long, low skull, conical teeth and unusually short forelimbs.

A comparatively small Montana centrosaurine known from a partial skull and skeleton recovered from an ancient stream deposit.

A rare, exceptionally long-necked diplodocid from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation, best known from spectacular museum skeletons assembled from partial remains.

An Early Cretaceous spinosaurid from southern England with a long, low snout, conical teeth and an enormous thumb claw. Its partial skeleton preserves rare direct evidence of a mixed diet that included fish and an iguanodontian dinosaur.

The best-preserved armored dinosaur known, retaining its body outline, skin, armor, horn sheaths, stomach contents and evidence of colour.

A rare, high-shouldered Morrison Formation sauropod named from a partial Colorado skeleton with a huge humerus, deep trunk vertebrae and forelimbs longer than its hind limbs.

The classic thunder lizard: a robust Late Jurassic diplodocid from Wyoming with a powerful neck, columnar limbs and an exceptionally long tapering tail.

A robust Morrison Formation sauropod with a blunt box-like skull, spoon-shaped teeth and one of the most complete articulated sauropod skeletons ever found.

A robust Late Jurassic plant-eater from the Morrison Formation, built for powerful hind-limb movement and efficient cropping with a deep beak and ridged cheek teeth.

A giant North African predator defined chiefly by lost Algerian teeth and a huge partial Moroccan skull, with blade-like serrated teeth and a complicated taxonomic history.

A short-skulled Patagonian abelisaurid with thick brow horns, extremely reduced arms and exceptionally preserved scaly skin. Nearly everything known comes from one remarkable skeleton.

A small, flightless oviraptorosaur whose exquisite Liaoning fossils preserve downy body covering and symmetrical wing and tail feathers.

A short-frilled horned dinosaur from Alberta, famous for its long nasal horn, hooked frill ornaments and enormous mass-death bonebeds.

A small, early macronarian sauropod from Jurassic India, known from a partial skeleton with an unusual horn-like crest on a front tail vertebra.

A medium-sized Morrison Formation predator with a blade-like nasal horn, raised brow bones, unusually deep jaws, four-fingered hands and a row of small bony osteoderms along the body midline.

A tiny, nearly complete feathered pennaraptoran from Early Cretaceous China, preserving enormous wings, feathered feet and a fan of about 16 exceptionally long tail feathers.

A classic long-frilled horned dinosaur from Alberta, known from complete skulls, articulated skeletons, skin impressions and a rare juvenile skeleton.

A lightly built Late Triassic predator known from hundreds of skeletons at Ghost Ranch. Its famous fossils stabilized a difficult species name—and disproved a textbook story about dinosaur cannibalism.

A small Late Jurassic theropod known from just two exceptionally complete European skeletons—one from Bavaria and a larger individual from Canjuers, France—both preserving evidence central to its anatomy and diet.

A nearly completely known Early Cretaceous predator from Spain with a short, tall-backed crest immediately in front of its hips.

An Alberta centrosaurine whose frill carried a crown-like cluster of extra ossifications and short spikes.

A large Canadian duck-billed dinosaur whose hollow, helmet-shaped crest enclosed long looping nasal passages and whose holotype preserves skin impressions.

A large Early Jurassic Antarctic predator with a spectacular sideways-curving crest and one of the continent's most informative dinosaur skeletons.

A heavily built European stegosaur with a long neck, broad back plates and formidable tail spikes, known from a historic English skeleton and newer Iberian fossils.

A robust tyrannosaurid from Late Cretaceous Alberta, known from an unusually complete skull and skeleton collected by Charles M. Sternberg.

A giant, deep-bodied Mongolian ornithomimosaur with enormous arms, a toothless duck-like beak, tall back spines and a broad-footed build unlike any other known theropod.

A feathered Early Cretaceous dromaeosaurid with a raised second-toe claw, grasping hands and a reinforced tail. John Ostrom's study of it helped transform the modern view of dinosaurs as active, bird-like animals.

An early centrosaurine from Utah known from a remarkably complete skull with long brow horns and a pair of towering, curved frill spikes.

A compact, unusually short-necked diplodocoid from Tanzania with tall forked vertebral spines and one of the best skeletons known for its family.

A large Early Jurassic predator from Navajo Nation lands in Arizona, distinguished by two thin crests built from several skull bones. It was far larger and more powerfully constructed than its small, venom-spitting film counterpart—and no fossil supports either venom or a neck frill.

A long, lightly built Morrison Formation sauropod with peg-like front teeth and an extraordinarily long tail. Its famous Carnegie skeleton—and casts sent around the world—made Diplodocus a global museum icon.

A juvenile, small-bodied thescelosaurid from South Korea whose partly hidden skull and skeleton were revealed in three dimensions by computed-tomography scans.

An enormous Patagonian titanosaur represented by an exceptionally informative partial skeleton, with a famous but still debated body-mass estimate.

A lightly built Late Jurassic herbivore from the Morrison Formation, with long hind limbs, a balancing tail and a small beaked head.

A medium-sized Mongolian therizinosaur with only two functional fingers and a rare three-dimensionally preserved keratin claw sheath.

A very large, broad-billed hadrosaur from the final few million years of the Cretaceous. Complete skeletons, growth series and exceptional ‘mummies’ preserve its scales, fleshy back crest, tail spikes and hind-foot hooves in unusual detail.

A centrosaurine from Montana known from two multi-individual bonebeds, with a strongly forward-curving nasal horn and paired spikes on its frill.

A small, long-legged Late Jurassic plant-eater from Colorado represented by the most complete securely named small neornithischian skeleton from the Morrison Formation.

A small, lightly built Late Triassic dinosaur from Argentina known from a remarkably complete skeleton, with a five-fingered hand and a varied set of serrated teeth near the earliest saurischian radiation.

A low, broad ankylosaurid from Alberta's Dinosaur Park Formation, protected by skull tiles, neck armour and body osteoderms and equipped with a stiff-handled tail club. Modern revision has greatly narrowed which fossils truly belong to it.

An island-dwarf macronarian sauropod from Late Jurassic Germany, known from an exceptional growth series that includes skulls and mature small adults.

A large, toothless Mongolian ornithomimid with a small head, long neck and powerful running legs, known from several skeletons spanning different growth stages.

One of the largest well-supported terrestrial predators, a long-skulled Patagonian carcharodontosaurid known chiefly from a single substantial partial skeleton.

A slender, long-legged tyrannosaur from Alberta known from an exceptional growth series, including a juvenile with the remains of two small dinosaurs preserved in its stomach.

A small Late Jurassic tyrannosauroid from China with a tall, delicate crest extending along the middle of its snout and skull roof.

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.

A small Early Jurassic ornithischian with a beak, grinding cheek teeth and prominent tusk-like caniniforms in the same jaws.

A small, agile, ground-dwelling plant-eater from the Early Cretaceous Isle of Wight, known from numerous well-preserved skeletons.

A large Early Cretaceous herbivore with a thumb spike, a weight-bearing three-fingered hand and a famous Belgian fossil record of about thirty articulated skeletons. Those fossils transformed Iguanodon from a fragmentary curiosity into one of the first well-understood dinosaurs.

A newly named microraptorine from northwestern China, represented by one articulated shoulder and forelimb from fossil beds otherwise famous for early birds.

A compact Tanzanian stegosaur with plates over the front half of its back and increasingly long defensive spikes toward the hips and tail.

A medium-sized Mongolian tyrannosauroid that documents the gracile body plan near the evolutionary origin of the giant, deep-skulled tyrannosaurids.

A spectacularly ornamented chasmosaurine from southern Utah, with a short broad frill edged by ten curved hooks and spikes.

A large Canadian duck-billed dinosaur with a distinctive hollow hatchet-shaped crest containing an intricate looping airway.

A small Early Cretaceous ornithischian from polar southeastern Australia, securely known from limited skull material at Dinosaur Cove.

A large Montana hadrosaur famous for colonial nesting grounds containing eggs, embryos and young of many ages, providing landmark evidence for prolonged dinosaur nest care.

A short-skulled Madagascan abelisaurid known from multiple skulls and skeletons, including bones bearing feeding marks made by its own species.

A nearly complete Chinese sauropod famous for a neck about 9.5 metres long, an exceptional cervical series and a small fused structure at the end of its tail.

A giant Patagonian carcharodontosaurid represented by a remarkable bonebed containing several individuals of different sizes.

The first non-avian dinosaur scientifically named: a large Middle Jurassic English predator known from a diagnostic lower jaw and scattered skeletal remains.

A long-handed ornithomimid from northern Mexico whose metacarpals were unusually longer than its metatarsals, known from one headless partial skeleton.

A crow-sized dromaeosaur with long flight feathers on all four limbs, a feathered tail fan and direct fossil evidence for glossy iridescent plumage.

A Portuguese stegosaur with at least seventeen neck vertebrae—more than most sauropods and far more than its short-necked relatives.

A historically important but dubious centrosaurine name based on an incomplete frill bone from Montana and an original collection mixed from several animals.

A remarkably complete Middle Jurassic theropod from China with a single hollow crest running along the middle of its skull.

A newly named, nearly grown Late Triassic sauropodomorph from Zimbabwe, known from a skull-less partial skeleton that survived a serious injury or infection.

An iconic Australian ornithopod with an inflated muzzle, a remarkably complete type skeleton and a newly reconstructed skull shaped by CT scanning and fresh quarry finds.

A gigantic Early Cretaceous sauropod from Thailand, represented by an associated partial skeleton and estimated at about 27 metres and 27 tonnes.

A Utah centrosaurine with an oversized nose, remarkably long forward-curving brow horns and a comparatively simple rounded frill.

A large Early Cretaceous allosauroid from the Isle of Wight, represented by much of the skeleton and a remarkably complex sensory network inside its snout.

A small, short-necked sauropod with a broad downturned muzzle, extremely delicate skull and more than 500 continually replacing teeth.

An exceptionally complete hollow-crested hadrosaur from Far Eastern Russia, recognised by its tall helmet-like crest and unusually long neck.

A long-legged Canadian ornithomimid known from complete skeletons and fossils preserving a shaggy coat and adult wing-like arm feathers.

A large, deep-bodied iguanodontian from Niger with a broad beak, thumb spikes and a spectacular row of elongated vertebral spines.

A small, toothless and probably feathered Mongolian theropod named as an egg thief after it was found above a nest. Embryos discovered decades later showed that the same egg type belonged to oviraptorids.

The largest well-known dome-headed dinosaur, from the latest Cretaceous of the western United States. Adult skulls carry a massive rounded dome and a fringe of blunt nodes, but much of the body remains reconstructed from incomplete skeletons and close relatives.

A large Canadian centrosaurine whose nose carried a broad roughened boss instead of a conventional horn, known from multiple partial skulls and regional bonebeds.

A rare Canadian hadrosaur with a long, backward-projecting tubular crest. Its exceptionally important holotype preserves a complete skull and a partial skeleton, including healed injuries that the animal survived.

One of the largest and best-sampled giant titanosaurs, represented by more than 130 bones from at least six young adults buried during separate floods at one Patagonian quarry.

A large, obligately bipedal Late Triassic herbivore known from exceptionally complete European skeletons. Its holotype, growth record and healed injuries make it a cornerstone for understanding early sauropodomorphs.

A sheep- to pig-sized, four-legged ceratopsian from Mongolia’s Late Cretaceous dune fields, known from abundant skulls and skeletons, a juvenile nest and the extraordinary ‘Fighting Dinosaurs’ fossil.

A small, primarily bipedal Early Cretaceous ceratopsian from Mongolia with a deep skull, parrot-like beak, flared cheek bones and clusters of polished stones preserved inside some skeletons.

A stoutly built Indian abelisaurid known from an associated partial skeleton with a thickened skull roof and distinctive low median horn.

A disputed name for a partial centrosaurine frill from Montana, variously treated as Rubeosaurus, a second Styracosaurus species or Styracosaurus albertensis.

A compact Late Cretaceous titanosaur from Argentina whose associated bony plates and small dermal ossicles proved that some sauropods carried armour.

A large Canadian duck-billed dinosaur known from a nearly complete skeleton, a solid backward-pointing crest and patches of fossilised skin.

A heavily armored Cloverly nodosaur with rows of bony plates and enormous paired spines projecting from its shoulders.

A remarkably complete Early Jurassic armoured dinosaur from Dorset with rows of keeled plates, small spikes and a skull sheathed in keratinous scutes.

A compact, short-necked Middle Jurassic sauropod from China known from multiple excellent skeletons and a small bony club at the end of its tail.

The first named ceratopsid from China, distinguished by a large skull ringed with numerous curved frill processes.

A small Jehol coelurosaur whose articulated fossils preserve simple filamentous feathers, gut contents and a striped, countershaded colour pattern.

A giant North African spinosaurid with an elongated, narrow snout, conical teeth, towering neural spines and a deep, fin-like tail. How much time it spent swimming remains actively debated.

A newly named Spinosaurus species from Niger, recognised by a tall, scimitar-shaped crest above the skull roof. It is known only from immature, incomplete individuals.

The best-known plated dinosaur: a low-browsing Morrison Formation herbivore with two rows of tall back plates and four formidable tail spikes. Its exceptionally complete holotype preserves rare details including a skull and throat ossicles.

A centrosaurine horned dinosaur from the upper Dinosaur Park Formation, distinguished by a huge nasal horn and long spikes around its frill. Several skulls show that the celebrated frill pattern varied—and could be strongly asymmetric—between individuals.

A large, long-snouted spinosaurid from Early Cretaceous Niger with conical teeth, powerful forelimbs, an enlarged thumb claw and a low sail over its hips.

A giant Mongolian tyrannosaurine known from numerous skulls and skeletons, including a tiny juvenile that records how its lighter feeding apparatus developed into the deep, force-resistant adult skull.

A lightly built Late Triassic theropod from Ghost Ranch, represented by several articulated skeletons that illuminate early dinosaur dispersal.

A common Cloverly Formation ornithopod with a powerful body and an exceptionally long, tendon-stiffened tail.

A giant, plant-eating theropod from Mongolia known chiefly from enormous forelimbs and blade-like claw bones; its familiar long-necked, broad-bellied body is reconstructed from more complete relatives.

A large, robust megalosaurid predator from the Morrison Formation, distinguished by massive three-fingered forelimbs and fragmentary skull material.

A massive latest-Cretaceous herbivore with a parrot-like beak, continuously replacing dental batteries, two long brow horns, a nasal horn and a solid bony frill. It lived alongside Tyrannosaurus during the final two million years of the dinosaur age.

A well-represented Chinese stegosaur with a long low skull, changing plate shapes along its back and formidable spikes toward the end of the tail.

A massive latest-Cretaceous tyrannosaurid with a deep, reinforced skull, bone-crushing teeth, powerful hind limbs and extremely short two-fingered arms. Exceptional skeletons reveal dramatic changes from lightly built juveniles to heavy adults.

Thailand's first formally named mamenchisaurid sauropod, known only from one distinctive, internally air-filled anterior back vertebra from the latest Jurassic.

The largest well-supported dromaeosaur, a powerfully built Early Cretaceous predator from eastern Utah known from scattered type material, larger BYU individuals and a remarkable multi-age sandstone block still being prepared.

A turkey-sized, fully feathered dromaeosaurid from Mongolia's Late Cretaceous deserts. Its real anatomy includes wing feathers, a long stiffened tail and an enlarged second-toe claw—but not the human-sized, scaly body made famous by films.

A richly ornamented early centrosaurine from an Alberta bonebed, recognized by broad frill hooks that curl forward over the shield.

A large early sauropodomorph from Yunnan, China, represented by a mature partial skeleton that illuminates body-size evolution before true giant sauropods.

A nine-metre Early Cretaceous tyrannosauroid known from three remarkably complete skeletons with direct impressions of long filamentous feathers.

The oldest definitive and most complete known pachycephalosaur, a sheepdog-sized Mongolian herbivore whose dome developed before its body finished growing.

An early horned dinosaur from New Mexico with paired brow horns and a frill, but without the advanced dental battery of later ceratopsids.