Dinosaur genus

Actiosaurus

Sauvage 1883

Actiosaurus is a dinosaur genus known from bones, found in rocks 205.7–201.4 million years old, in France.

Confidence labels

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How sure are we?2 high5 medium3 lowHow we rate confidence

Confidence labels are switched off. Facts with low confidence, or where sources disagree, still carry a small dot: tap it for the reason.

At a glance

Data as of 11 October 2026

205.7–201.4 Ma

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114366

The last non-bird dinosaurs died out 66 million years ago. That's as far from us as the end of this bar.

Named by: Sauvage 1883
high
high: PBDB and Wikidata agree.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Described in: H.-E. Sauvage (1883). Recherches sur les reptiles trouvés dans l'étage rhétien des environs d'Autun [Research on the reptiles found in the Rhaetian stage of the environs of Autun]. Annales des Sciences Géologiques 14(3): 1–44.
high
high: PBDB gives this publication for the name; its author and year match the naming authority (Sauvage 1883), on which PBDB and Wikidata agree.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. The publication the Paleobiology Database gives as the authority for this genus name, usually the one that first named and described it.
Type species: Actiosaurus gaudryi
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Lived: Rhaetian, 205.7–201.4 million years ago
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Omnisaura calculation205.7–201.4 million years ago, from its dated fossil records
low
low: Omnisaura's calculation from only 1 dated record(s).
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Fossils found in: France
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Union of all sources (ISO 3166).
Family: Anchisauridae
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Parent group: Anchisauridae
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Species named in its records: Actiosaurus gaudryi
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (the species its fossil records are identified as).
Diet: herbivore (inferred for its group)
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this, and it infers it for the whole of Prosauropoda, the group this genus belongs to, not from this genus's own fossils.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB, inferred from a group the genus belongs to.
Way of life: ground dwelling (inferred for its group)
low
low: PBDB infers this way of life for the whole of Prosauropoda; behaviour is rarely known for one genus.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB, inferred from a group the genus belongs to.
Known from: Bones
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (what the name was based on).

Sources: Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0), Wikidata (CC0 1.0)Confidence levels and gaps are Omnisaura's own assessment.

Gaps are answers

What isn't known yet

Order: no source we use gives it yet.
Formations: no source we use gives it yet.
Common names: no source we use gives it yet.
What it was named after: no source we use gives it yet.
Resting on one source: 5 facts come from a single source with nothing against them (rated medium): type species (PBDB); parent group (PBDB); family (PBDB); age (headline) (PBDB); diet (PBDB).

Size and appearance aren't covered yet, and diet and way of life only as PBDB infers them for the wider group. Omnisaura leaves the rest out rather than guess.

Where sources disagree

None open. Where our sources overlap, they agree on everything shown here.

Did it meet…?

Did Actiosaurus meet ?

No. Actiosaurus had gone at least 117.8 million years before Tyrannosaurus appears in the fossil record, a longer gap than the 66 million years between Tyrannosaurus and today.

Going by the ages and rock formations of their dated fossils, as on the map. Compare their fossil sites on the map.

Connections

Genera linked to Actiosaurus by where and when their fossils were found, by classification and by who named them. Select a name to open its page.

Same family: Anchisauridae 2

Other genera in Anchisauridae with a full profile.

Ammosaurus Gyposaurus

Found in France 6

Other genera found in France, from rocks of overlapping age, the most fossil sites there first.

Plateosaurus Eubrontes Grallator Coelurosaurichnus Dilophosauripus Thecodontosaurus

Credits

Where this page comes from

Paleobiology DatabaseCC BY 4.0 · fossil records, ages, classification
WikidataCC0 1.0 · names and identifiers
OmnisauraOmnisaura editorial · confidence levels and gaps
PaleoMAP PaleoCoastlines (Kocsis and Scotese 2021)CC BY 4.0 · ancient coastlines on the small map
Natural EarthPublic domain · today's coastlines