List of European dinosaurs

The Tethys Ocean splitting Laurasia from Gondwana.

Dinosaurs evolved partway through the Triassic period of the Mesozoic era, around 230 Ma (million years ago). At that time, the earth had one supercontinental landmass, called Pangaea, of which Europe was a part.[1] So it remained throughout the Triassic. By the start of the Jurassic period, some 30 million years later, the supercontinent began to split into Laurasia and Gondwana. The largest inlet from Panthalassa, the superocean that surrounded Pangaea, was called the Tethys Ocean, and as this inlet cut deeper into the supercontinent, much of Europe was flooded.

By the Cretaceous, from 145 to 66 million years ago, the continents were beginning to approach their present shapes, but not their present positions, and Europe remained tropical. At times, it was a chain of island-microcontinents including Baltica and Iberia.

Europe is relatively rich in fossils from the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary, and much of what is known about European dinosaurs dates from this time. As the timeline below illustrates, there are substantial gaps in our knowledge from the rest of the Mesozoic. The absence of dinosaur genera from this time is because few fossils have been discovered, and almost certainly not because Europe contained few types of dinosaur—except, perhaps, immediately after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event.[2]

Criteria for inclusion

  • The creature must appear on the List of dinosaurs.
  • Fossils of the creature must have been found in Europe.
  • This list is a complement to Category:Dinosaurs of Europe.

List of European dinosaurs

Nomen dubium
Invalid
Nomen nudum
NamePeriodDiet[3]Notes
AcanthopholisCretaceousherbivore
AepisaurusCretaceousherbivore
AgnosphitysTriassic(insectivore )_
AgrosaurusTriassicherbivore
AjkaceratopsCretaceousherbivore
AllosaurusJurassiccarnivore
AlocodonJurassic(herbivore)
AltispinaxCretaceouscarnivore
AmpelosaurusCretaceousherbivore
AnoplosaurusCretaceousherbivore
AragosaurusCretaceousherbivore
ArcovenatorCretaceouscarnivore
ArchaeopteryxJurassiccarnivorePossibly bird
ArenysaurusCretaceousherbivore
AristosuchusCretaceouscarnivore
AsylosaurusTriassicherbivore/omnivore
AtsinganosaurusCretaceousherbivore
AviatyrannisJurassiccarnivore
AvipesTriassic(insectavore)
BalaurCretaceousherbivore
BariliumCretaceousherbivore
BaryonyxCretaceouscarnivore
BetasuchusCretaceouscarnivore
BihariosaurusCretaceousherbivore
BlasisaurusCretaceousherbivore
BothriospondylusJurassicherbivore
BradycnemeCretaceous(carnivore)
BurianosaurusCretaceousherbivore
CalamosaurusCretaceouscarnivore
CalamospondylusCretaceous(carnivore)
CallovosaurusJurassicherbivore
CamarillasaurusCretaceouscarnivore
CamelotiaTriassicherbivore
CanardiaCretaceousherbivore
CardiodonJurassicherbivore
CeratosaurusJurassiccarnivore
CetiosauriscusJurassicherbivore
CetiosaurusJurassicherbivore
ChondrosteosaurusCretaceousherbivore
CompsognathusJurassiccarnivore
ConcavenatorCretaceouscarnivore
CraspedodonCretaceousherbivore
CraterosaurusCretaceousherbivore
CruxicheirosJurassiccarnivore
CryptosaurusJurassicherbivore
CumnoriaJurassicherbivore
DacentrurusJurassicherbivore
DarwinsaurusCretaceousherbivore
DelapparentiaCretaceousherbivore
DemandasaurusCretaceousherbivore
DinheirosaurusJurassicherbivore
DinodocusCretaceousherbivore
DolichosuchusTriassiccarnivore
DraconyxJurassicherbivore
DracopeltaJurassic/Cretaceousherbivore
DracoraptorJurassiccarnivore
DromaeosauroidesCretaceouscarnivore
DubreuillosaurusJurassiccarnivore
DuriatitanJurassicherbivore
DuriavenatorJurassiccarnivore
EchinodonCretaceousherbivore
EfraasiaTriassicherbivore
ElopteryxCretaceouscarnivore
EmausaurusJurassicherbivore
EotyrannusCretaceouscarnivore
EousdryosaurusJurassicherbivore
ErectopusCretaceouscarnivore
EucamerotusCretaceousherbivore
EucercosaurusCretaceousherbivore
EuronychodonCretaceouscarnivore
EuropasaurusJurassicherbivore
EuropatitanCretaceousherbivore
EuropeltaCretaceousherbivore
EustreptospondylusJurassiccarnivore
GalveosaurusJurassic/Cretaceousherbivore
GenusaurusCretaceouscarnivore
GideonmantelliaCretaceousherbivore
GigantosaurusCretaceousherbivore
HalticosaurusTriassiccarnivore
HeptasteornisCretaceouscarnivore
HistriasaurusCretaceousherbivore
HorshamosaurusCretaceousherbivore
HungarosaurusCretaceousherbivore
HuxleysaurusCretaceousherbivore
HylaeosaurusCretaceousherbivore
HypselosaurusCretaceousherbivore
HypselospinusCretaceousherbivore
HypsilophodonCretaceousherbivore
IguanodonCretaceousherbivore
IliosuchusCretaceouscarnivore
IschyrosaurusJurassicherbivore
IuticosaurusCretaceousherbivore
JuratyrantJurassiccarnivore
JuravenatorJurassiccarnivore
KoutalisaurusCretaceousherbivore
KukufeldiaCretaceousherbivore
LexovisaurusJurassicherbivore
LiassaurusJurassic(unknown)
LiliensternusTriassiccarnivore
LirainosaurusCretaceousherbivore
LophostropheusTriassic/Jurassiccarnivore
LoricatosaurusJurassicherbivore
LosillasaurusJurassic/Cretaceousherbivore
LourinhanosaurusJurassiccarnivore
LourinhasaurusJurassicherbivore
LusitanosaurusJurassicherbivore
LusotitanJurassicherbivore
MacrurosaurusCretaceousherbivore
MagnamanusCretaceousherbivore
MagnosaurusJurassiccarnivore
MagyarosaurusCretaceousherbivore
MantellisaurusCretaceousherbivore
MantellodonCretaceousherbivore
MatheronodonCretaceousherbivore
MegalosaurusJurassiccarnivore
MerosaurusJurassiccarnivore
MetriacanthosaurusJurassiccarnivore
MiragaiaJurassicherbivore
MochlodonCretaceousherbivore
MorelladonCretaceousherbivore
MorinosaurusCretaceousherbivore
NeosodonJurassicherbivore
NeovenatorCretaceouscarnivore
NewtonsaurusTriassiccarnivore
NormanniasaurusCretaceousherbivore
NuthetesCretaceouscarnivore
OhmdenosaurusJurassicherbivore
OplosaurusCretaceousherbivore
OrnithodesmusCretaceouscarnivore
OrnithopsisCretaceousherbivore
OrthomerusCretaceousherbivore
OwenodonCretaceousherbivore
PaludititanCretaceousherbivore
PantydracoTriassicherbivore
PararhabdodonCretaceousherbivoreThe first known lambeosaurine from Europe.
PelecanimimusCretaceouscarnivore
PelorosaurusCretaceousherbivore
PhyllodonJurassicherbivore
PiveteausaurusJurassiccarnivore
PolacanthusCretaceousherbivore
ProplanicoxaCretaceousherbivore
PlateosaurusTriassicherbivore
PneumatoraptorCretaceouscarnivore
PoekilopleuronJurassiccarnivore
PolacanthusCretaceousherbivore
PonerosteusCretaceous(unknown)
PriodontognathusJurassicherbivore
ProaCretaceousherbivore
ProceratosaurusJurassiccarnivore
ProcompsognathusTriassiccarnivore
PterospondylusTriassiccarnivore
PyroraptorCretaceouscarnivore
RegnosaurusCretaceousherbivore
RhabdodonCretaceousherbivore
RhadinosaurusCretaceousherbivore
RiabininohadrosCretaceousherbivore
RuehleiaTriassicherbivore
SaltriosaurusJurassiccarnivore
SarcolestesJurassicherbivore
SarcosaurusJurassiccarnivore
ScelidosaurusJurassicherbivore
ScipionyxCretaceouscarnivore
SciurumimusJurassiccarnivore
SellacoxaCretaceousherbivore
SoriatitanCretaceousherbivore
StegosaurusJurassicherbivore
StenopelixCretaceousherbivore
StreptospondylusJurassicherbivore
StruthiosaurusCretaceousherbivore
SuchosaurusCretaceouscarnivore
TanystrosuchusTriassicherbivore
TarascosaurusCretaceouscarnivore
TastavinsaurusCretaceousherbivore
TaveirosaurusCretaceousherbivore
TeinurosaurusJurassiccarnivore
TelmatosaurusCretaceousherbivore
TethyshadrosCretaceousherbivore
ThecocoelurusCretaceous(unknown)
ThecodontosaurusTriassicherbivore
ThecospondylusCretaceous(carnivore )
TherosaurusCretaceousherbivore
TorvosaurusJurassiccarnivore
TrimucrodonJurassicherbivore
TuriasaurusJurassic/Cretaceousherbivore
ValdoraptorCretaceouscarnivore
ValdosaurusCretaceousherbivore
VariraptorCretaceouscarnivore
VelocipesTriassiccarnivore-
VouivriaJurassicherbivore
WellnhoferiaJurassiccarnivore
XenoposeidonCretaceousherbivore
YaverlandiaCretaceouscarnivore
ZalmoxesCretaceousherbivore
ZbyJurassicherbivore

Timeline

This is a timeline of selected dinosaurs from the list above. Time is measured in Ma, megaannum, along the x-axis.

MesozoicTriassicJurassicCretaceousBetasuchusZalmoxesMagyarosaurusHypselosaurusElopteryxPyroraptorAmpelosaurusStruthiosaurusHungarosaurusErectopusAnoplosaurusAcanthopholisScipionyxValdoraptorNeovenatorIguanodonEucamerotusEotyrannusDollodonBaryonyxAristosuchusAragosaurusPolacanthusMacrurosaurusHistriasaurusPelorosaurusMantellisaurusHypsilophodonHylaeosaurusValdosaurusXenoposeidonEchinodonTuriasaurusTorvosaurusStegosaurusNeosodonLusotitanJuratyrantCompsognathusArchaeopteryxDacentrurusMiragaia (dinosaur)LourinhanosaurusJuravenatorEuropasaurusDracopeltaDinheirosaurusCumnoriaAviatyrannisAllosaurusSarcolestesLoricatosaurusEustreptospondylusCeratosaurusCallovosaurusProceratosaurusPoekilopleuronDubreuillosaurusBothriospondylusDuriavenatorMegalosaurusCetiosaurusSarcosaurusAsylosaurusScelidosaurusHalticosaurusEfraasiaLiliensternusCamelotiaRuehleiaPlateosaurusSellosaurusMesozoicTriassicJurassicCretaceous

See also

Notes

  1. Manchester Metropolitan University Archived 2009-05-25 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. Nasa Archived 2009-07-20 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. Diet is sometimes hard to determine for dinosaurs and should be considered a "best guess"
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