Data & method

Data retrieved from the Paleobiology Database (PBDB) data service on 2026-10-27. PBDB data are licensed under CC BY 4.0; FossilRange changes them as described below.

Which genera are included

Accepted, non-avian dinosaur genera based on body fossils (footprint and egg-shell form taxa are excluded) with at least 12 occurrences in PBDB. Two genera known mainly from isolated teeth (Richardoestesia, Paronychodon) and three disputed taxa from Pakistan were also left out. That gives 99 genera.

Fossil records

A “fossil record” is a PBDB occurrence: one taxon identified in one fossil collection. Counts include records filed under a genus's junior synonyms and species. Records dated younger than 66.0 million years were treated as errors and dropped.

Ages

Many fossil records carry wide age brackets. To avoid stretching ranges, each genus's range uses only records dated to 12 million years or better, takes the 90th and 10th percentiles of their mid-point ages, and reports the full span of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) stages those values fall in. Ranges are therefore stage-level, not exact first and last appearances.

Shared collections and ranks

“Found in the same collections” counts PBDB collections that list both genera. Ranks compare the 99 genera on this site only. A formation gets its own page when at least four of the genera are recorded in it, and a country when at least three are.

Maps

Dots are present-day coordinates of fossil records, drawn on Natural Earth land outlines (public domain) in the Equal Earth projection. Nearby dots are merged.

Limits

PBDB is a research database compiled from the literature; it is not a complete list of every fossil ever found, and identifications change as research continues. Use FossilRange as a starting point and check the original publications for anything important.