Omnisaura

Dinosaur genus

Bactrosaurus

Gilmore 1933

Bactrosaurus is a dinosaur genus known from bones, found in rocks 100.5–66 million years old, in China, Kazakhstan and Mongolia.

Confidence labels
How sure are we?2 high6 medium6 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
100.5–66 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
Gilmore 1933
highhigh: PBDB and Wikidata agree.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.

Described in
C. W. Gilmore (1933). On the dinosaurian fauna of the Iren Dabasu Formation. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 68(2-3): 23–78.
highhigh: PBDB gives this publication for the name; its author and year match the naming authority (Gilmore 1933), 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.

Lived
Turonian to Campanian, 93.9–72.2 million years ago
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Omnisaura calculation100.5–66 million years ago, from its dated fossil records
mediummedium: Omnisaura's calculation from 7 confirmed PBDB records.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.

Fossils found in
China
mediummedium: Only PBDB records it (5 records).
Kazakhstan
lowlow: Only one PBDB record.
Mongolia
lowlow: Only one PBDB record.
mixedmixed: Levels differ between entries; each has its own.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Union of all sources (ISO 3166).

Rock formations
Iren Dabasu
mediummedium: Only PBDB records it (4 records).
Baynshire
lowlow: Only one PBDB record.
Dabrazhin
lowlow: Only one PBDB record.
Zouyun
lowlow: Only one PBDB record.
mixedmixed: Levels differ between entries; each has its own.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Canonical names, automatic and editor-approved matches applied.

Parent group
Hadrosauroidea
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.

Species named in its records
Bactrosaurus johnsoni, Bactrosaurus prynadai
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database (the species its fossil records are identified as).

Diet
herbivore (inferred for its group)
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this, and it infers it for the whole of Ornithopoda, 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, gregarious (inferred for its group)
lowlow: PBDB infers this way of life for the whole of Ornithischia; 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

  • Type species: no source we use gives it yet.
  • Order: no source we use gives it yet.
  • Family: 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.
  • Held back: 1 fossil record left out: identified only tentatively (for example "cf.", "?" or the name in quotation marks).
  • Resting on one source: 3 facts come from a single source with nothing against them (rated medium): parent group (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…?

?

Same time, different places. Their fossils overlap in age, 83.6 to 66 million years ago, but no rock formation holds both.

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

BactrosaurusSame rocks, same timeSame parent groupSame naming authorAlso found in ChinaGobihadrosParaspheroolithusSegnosaurusTalarurusand 14 moreBatyrosaurusCariocecusCedrorestesClaosaurusand 8 moreAlamosaurusAlectrosaurusChirostenotesPinacosaurusand 1 moreElongatoolithusMacroolithusDendroolithusOvaloolithusand 64 more

Same rocks, same time 18

Genera found in the same rock units, from rocks of overlapping age, the most shared fossil sites first.

GobihadrosParaspheroolithusSegnosaurusTalarurusAlectrosaurusArchaeornithomimusKhankhuuluuTsagantegiaAchillobatorAmtocephaleDendroolithusErketuGilmoreosaurusJaxartosaurusMacroelongatoolithusNeimongosaurusand 2 more

Named by Gilmore 5

Genera whose naming authority includes the same surname. The authority has no initials, so different people who share a surname can appear together.

AlamosaurusAlectrosaurusChirostenotesPinacosaurusThescelosaurus

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