Triassic
The first dinosaurs emerged as life recovered from the largest mass extinction in Earth history.
- Range
- 251.902–201.4 Ma
- Mapped sites
- 449
- Occurrences
- 602
Deep time · Field map 01
Dinosaur
map
See where dinosaur fossils were discovered—and travel through the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous without leaving the map.
This is a map of evidence, not a guess at population density. Every light begins with a published occurrence in the Paleobiology Database.
- Occurrences
- 18,255
- Collection sites
- 9,658
- Accepted taxa
- 2,101
- Time span
- 251.9–66 Ma
The fossil record, spatialized
Where dinosaurs
entered the record
Search a taxon, isolate a period or scrub to one moment in deep time. Select any point to inspect its age, formation, environment and recorded dinosaurs.
Assembling 18,255 records…Grouping fossil occurrences into collection sites
66 MaToday → older252 Ma
TriassicJurassicCretaceousClusters show occurrence records
Occurrences: Paleobiology Database · CC0 source · snapshot 10 Aug 2026Boundaries: Natural Earth · locations generalized to 1° grid cells
186 million years
Three worlds,
one record.
The map colors each collection by the midpoint of its estimated age range. Boundaries are useful conventions, not hard switches in the history of life.
Jurassic
Sauropods, stegosaurs and large theropods spread across fragmenting Pangaea.
- Range
- 201.4–143.1 Ma
- Mapped sites
- 2,012
- Occurrences
- 3,665
Cretaceous
Flowering plants diversified while hadrosaurs, ceratopsians and tyrannosaurs reshaped terrestrial ecosystems.
- Range
- 143.1–66 Ma
- Mapped sites
- 7,197
- Occurrences
- 13,988
Found here, not necessarily living here
The mapped point is a one-degree generalization of the modern place attached to a fossil collection. Continents moved, shorelines changed and remains could be transported before burial. The location is real evidence, but its meaning needs geological context.
Age is usually a range
Most occurrences are assigned to an interval rather than a single year. The moment filter includes a site when the selected age falls inside that reported range. 11 broad source ranges cross the map’s 251.9–66 Ma display window and are transparently clipped at its boundary.
More dots do not mean more dinosaurs
Outcrop exposure, road cuts, quarries, research traditions and database coverage shape the visible pattern. Use density to find well-documented parts of the fossil record—not to rank ancient abundance.
Names can change
The map uses PBDB’s accepted taxon at snapshot time. New papers can split, merge or reassign a fossil. Search results therefore represent a versioned scientific record, not a permanent final taxonomy.
Coverage, not abundance
Where the record
is densest.
These totals describe entries in this PBDB snapshot. They primarily reveal where fossil-bearing rocks and sustained research overlap.
| Present-day country | Sites | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|
| United States of America | 2,767 | 5,451 |
| Canada | 846 | 1,759 |
| Spain | 730 | 1,362 |
| People's Republic of China | 768 | 1,305 |
| Mongolia | 329 | 806 |
| Argentina | 377 | 678 |
| United Kingdom | 445 | 661 |
| France | 288 | 498 |
| Brazil | 239 | 494 |
| Australia | 193 | 366 |
Most-recorded families
- Hadrosauridae1,617 occurrences
- Dromaeosauridae1,007 occurrences
- Ceratopsidae743 occurrences
- Tyrannosauridae511 occurrences
- Ankylosauridae289 occurrences
- Nodosauridae273 occurrences
- Diplodocidae270 occurrences
- Ornithomimidae259 occurrences
- Troodontidae250 occurrences
- Abelisauridae208 occurrences
This edition uses PBDB’s pres=regular scope, so trace, footprint, egg and other form-taxon records are excluded from these totals.
Provenance before spectacle
How this edition
was built.
A living scientific database deserves a frozen, inspectable edition. The browser never calls PBDB on your behalf.
Scope
Published regular occurrences for Dinosauria (52775), excluding Aves (36616), within PBDB’s Mesozoic interval using timerule=major.
Snapshot
18,255 source occurrences retrieved through Data Service 1.2 on 2026-08-10. The raw response is pinned locally by SHA-256.
Aggregation
Records sharing a PBDB collection number become one site. Taxa and occurrence counts remain attached to that collection.
Privacy restraint
Every modern location is generalized to the centre of a one-degree grid cell. Exact coordinates, paleocoordinates, protection flags, locality comments and county fields stay out of the browser asset.
Quality gates
Duplicate occurrence IDs, invalid coordinates, impossible ages, collection-coordinate conflicts and output checksums fail the build.
Licensing
PBDB’s API response is CC0. The Atlas transformation and presentation are CC BY 4.0. Natural Earth supplies the modern boundary context and remains attributed separately.
Data edition2026-08-10 · schema atlas-dinosaur-sites-v1
Browser asset
ce9afd5d04608353598f101178f0b0cad399588a5d06f274d6bd05a94d537744Source response
2ff178e460341cda95b5bf33d5ca518dcd3e4c9e2a0e2cd76844429245a2af90Field notes
Dinosaur map
questions.
Does this map show where dinosaurs lived?
It shows generalized present-day locations for fossil collections recorded by the Paleobiology Database. A discovery location is evidence that a dinosaur lived in the wider ancient region, but it is not a precise map of an animal’s home range.
Why are there so many dinosaur fossils in the United States, China and Europe?
The pattern combines geology with human activity. Exposed sedimentary rocks, research history, funding, access and publication practices all influence which fossils enter the database. Dense clusters must not be read as dinosaur population density.
What does “Ma” mean on the timeline?
Ma means mega-annum: one million years ago. A site labeled 150–145 Ma has an estimated age range between 150 million and 145 million years ago.
Are birds included?
The snapshot queries Dinosauria while excluding records classified by PBDB under the child taxon Aves. Stem birds and taxonomically unresolved records can still appear because paleontological classifications and identifications change over time.
Can I use this map to find fossils?
No. Locations are deliberately generalized to one-degree grid cells and are presented for research and education, not collecting. Fossils may be protected by land ownership, conservation rules and national or local law. Never enter a site or remove material without explicit permission.
How current are the data?
This edition uses a versioned PBDB snapshot retrieved on August 10, 2026. The source response and browser asset have SHA-256 checksums so the map can be reproduced and audited.