List of North American dinosaurs

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This is a list of dinosaurs whose remains have been recovered from North America.

North America has a rich dinosaur fossil record with great diversity of dinosaurs. This may not mean the dinosaurs were more diverse or abundant; it may be because substantial resources have been devoted to the North American fossil record.

The Middle Jurassic is the only poorly represented time period in North America, although several Middle Jurassic localities are known from Mexico. Footprints, eggshells, teeth, and fragments of bone representing theropods, sauropods, and ornithopods have been found, but none of them are diagnostic to the genus level.

The Late Jurassic of North America, however, is the exact opposite of the Middle Jurassic. The Late Jurassic Morrison Formation is found in several U.S. states, including Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas. It is notable as being the most fertile single source of dinosaur fossils in the world.

During the Early Cretaceous period, new, various types of dinosaurs appeared. Sauropods like Cedarosaurus were still present, but they were not as diverse as they were in the Jurassic. Theropods from the early Cretaceous of North America include Deinonychus, Utahraptor, Acrocanthosaurus, and a new genus of theropod, Microvenator. Huge plant-eating, long-necked dinosaurs included Astrodon and the Late Cretaceous sauropod Sauroposeidon. Ornithischians were more diverse than they were in the Jurassic Period. Tenontosaurus, Hypsilophodon, Iguanodon, Protohadros, and Eolambia are some of the ornithopods that lived then during the Early Cretaceous. Ankylosaurs replaced their stegosaur cousins in the Cretaceous. Ankylosaurs from the Early Cretaceous timeline of North America include Sauropelta and the popular Gastonia. Therizinosaurs such as Falcarius, are also known from the Early Cretaceous rocks of North America.

Finally, in the long Late Cretaceous, the greatest abundance and diversity of dinosaurs of all time lived in North America. During the early part of the Late Cretaceous, the therizinosaur Nothronychus and the ceratopsian Zuniceratops lived. During the Campanian stage (83.6–72 mya), an enormous diversity of dinosaurs is known from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation. Theropods from this formation included the tyrannosaurs such as Albertosaurus, Gorgosaurus, Daspletosaurus, Appalachiosaurus, and Dryptosaurus, as well as the dromaeosaurids Dromaeosaurus, Saurornitholestes, Atrociraptor, and Bambiraptor. Ceratopsians, such as Pachyrhinosaurus, Styracosaurus, Centrosaurus, Monoclonius, Brachyceratops, Pentaceratops, and Leptoceratops existed in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation at that time. Among hadrosaurs, Parasaurolophus, Corythosaurus, Lambeosaurus, Saurolophus, and Prosaurolophus existed also during this time.

During the Late Cretaceous, the Maastrichtian stage (72–65.5 mya), in the Hell Creek Formation, the diversity of dinosaurs wasn't as great as the preceding Campanian stage. North American herbivorous dinosaurs from this formation included Alamosaurus, Triceratops, Torosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus, Stegoceras, Edmontosaurus, Anatosaurus, Pentaceratops, and Regaliceratops. Predatory dinosaurs from this formation included Tyrannosaurus, Nanotyrannus, Troodon, Dakotaraptor and a possible American species of Spinosaurus.

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Key

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Timeline

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

MesozoicTriassicJurassicCretaceousZuniceratopsVelafronsUtahraptorTyrannosaurusTriceratopsTorvosaurusTorosaurusThescelosaurusTenontosaurusStyracosaurusStruthiomimusStegosaurusStegocerasScutellosaurusSauroposeidonSaurophaganaxSaurolophusPentaceratopsParasaurolophusPachycephalosaurusOrnithomimusOrnitholestesNiobrarasaurusMontanoceratopsMonocloniusMegapnosaurusLeptoceratopsLambeosaurusKritosaurusHypacrosaurusHaplocanthosaurusGryposaurusGorgosaurusFalcariusEotriceratopsEobrontosaurusEdmontosaurusEdmontoniaDryosaurusDiplodocusDeinonychusCorythosaurusCoelophysisCeratosaurusCentrosaurusCamptosaurusCamarasaurusBrachylophosaurusBrachyceratopsBrachiosaurusBarosaurusApatosaurusAnkylosaurusAnchiceratopsAnatotitanAllosaurusAlbertosaurusAlamosaurusAcrocanthosaurusMesozoicTriassicJurassicCretaceous

Criteria for inclusion

Notes

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