Dinosaur genus
Cryolophosaurus
Cryolophosaurus is a dinosaur genus known from bones, found in rocks 199.5–184.2 million years old, in Antarctica.
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- Named by
- Hammer and Hickerson 1994
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Described in
- W. R. Hammer, W. J. Hickerson (1994). A crested theropod dinosaur from Antarctica. Science 264: 828–830. Read it
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; its author and year match the naming authority (Hammer and Hickerson 1994).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
- Sinemurian to Pliensbachian, 199.5–184.2 million years ago
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.Omnisaura calculation199.5–184.2 million years ago, from its dated fossil recordslow
low: Omnisaura's calculation from only 1 dated record(s).Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Fossils found in
- Antarctica
low
low: Only one PBDB record.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Union of all sources (ISO 3166).
- Rock formations
- Hanson
low
low: Only one PBDB record.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Canonical names, automatic and editor-approved matches applied.
- Parent group
- Tetanurae
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
- Cryolophosaurus ellioti
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (the species its fossil records are identified as).
- Diet
- carnivore (inferred for its group)
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this, and it infers it for the whole of Theropoda, 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, solitary (inferred for its group)
low
low: PBDB infers this way of life for the whole of Theropoda; 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).
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.
- Resting on one source: 4 facts come from a single source with nothing against them (rated medium): authority (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. Cryolophosaurus had gone at least 100.6 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 Cryolophosaurus by where and when their fossils were found, by classification and by who named them. Select a name to open its page.
Same parent group: Tetanurae 3
Other genera in Tetanurae with a full profile.
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