Omnisaura

Dinosaur genus

Chilesaurus

Novas et al. 2015

Chilesaurus is a dinosaur genus known from bones, found in rocks 149.2–143.1 million years old, in Chile.

Confidence labels
How sure are we?0 high6 medium4 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
149.2–143.1 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
Novas et al. 2015
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources

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

Described in
F. E. Novas, L. Salgado, M. Suárez, F. L. Agnolín, M. D. Ezcurra, N. R. Chimento, R. de la Cruz, M. P. Isasi, A. O. Vargas, D. Rubilar-Rogers (2015). An enigmatic plant-eating theropod from the Late Jurassic period of Chile. Nature 522(7556): 331–334. Read it
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; its author and year match the naming authority (Novas et al. 2015).
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
Chilesaurus diegosuarezi
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources

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

Lived
Tithonian, 149.2–143.1 million years ago
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Omnisaura calculation149.2–143.1 million years ago, from its dated fossil records
lowlow: Omnisaura's calculation from only 1 dated record(s).
Sources

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

Fossils found in
Chile
lowlow: Only one PBDB record.
Sources

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

Rock formations
Toqui
lowlow: Only one PBDB record.
Sources

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

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

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

Species named in its records
Chilesaurus diegosuarezi
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 Ornithischia, 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

  • 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.
  • Resting on one source: 5 facts come from a single source with nothing against them (rated medium): authority (PBDB); type species (PBDB); 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…?

?

No. Chilesaurus had gone at least 59.5 million years before Tyrannosaurus appears in the fossil record.

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

ChilesaurusSame parent groupSame naming authorApulosauripusArchaeocursorFerganocephaleGregaripusand 3 moreAniksosaurusAustroraptorBicentenariaIsasicursorand 8 more

Same parent group: Ornithischia 7

Other genera in Ornithischia with a full profile.

ApulosauripusArchaeocursorFerganocephaleGregaripusKomlosaurusKrzyzanowskisaurusMinisauripus

Named by Novas 12

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

AniksosaurusAustroraptorBicentenariaIsasicursorJaklapallisaurusMegaraptorNeuquenraptorNullotitanOrkoraptorTalenkauenTyrannotitanUnenlagia

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

Pictures linked from this page are credited beside each one, with their own licences; the full list is in the JSON download.