Footprint type

Dilophosauripus

Welles 1971

Dilophosauripus is a footprint type: the name is for the fossil footprints themselves. The animal that made them is not known for certain. Its footprints are found in rocks 205.7–184.2 million years old in France and the United States.

Confidence labels

VisibleOn tapHidden

How sure are we?0 high13 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

205.7–184.2 Ma

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114366

Solid: the ages of its dated fossils, 205.7–184.2 million years ago (Omnisaura's calculation). Pale: the published range, 205.7–165.3 million years ago, which also counts records Omnisaura leaves out.

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: Welles 1971
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Described in: S. P. Welles (1971). Dinosaur footprints from the Kayenta Formation of northern Arizona. Plateau 44(1): 27–38.
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; its author and year match the naming authority (Welles 1971).
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: Dilophosauripus williamsi
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Dated to: Rhaetian to Bathonian, 205.7–165.3 million years ago
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Omnisaura calculation205.7–184.2 million years ago, from its dated fossil records
medium
medium: Omnisaura's calculation from 12 confirmed PBDB records.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Found in: France
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (9 records).
United States
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (4 records).
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Union of all sources (ISO 3166).
Rock formations: Dolomitique
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (3 records).
Grès et Argilites bariolées
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (2 records).
Kayenta
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (2 records).
Moenave
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (2 records).
Calcaires à Stipites
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Dolomitic
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Grès d'Olemps
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
mixed
mixed: 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.
Footprint family: Grallatoridae
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Parent group: Grallatoridae
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: Dilophosauripus williamsi
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (the species its fossil records are identified as).
Known from: Footprints and traces
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (what the name was based on).
Made by: Not known for certain. Footprints rarely show which animal made them.

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

Gaps are answers

What isn't known yet

The animal that made them: not known for certain, as for most footprint types.
Order: 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: 6 facts come from a single source with nothing against them (rated medium): name (PBDB); authority (PBDB); type species (PBDB); parent group (PBDB); family (PBDB); age (headline) (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 Dilophosauripus meet ?

No. Dilophosauripus 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 Dilophosauripus by where and when their fossils were found, by classification and by who named them. Select a name to open its page.

Found in the same rocks 10

Genera and other fossil types from the same rock units, from rocks of overlapping age, the most shared fossil sites first.

Eubrontes Grallator Dilophosaurus Scutellosaurus Anomoepus Syntarsus Kayentapus Anchisauripus Sarahsaurus Selenichnus

Same family: Grallatoridae 6

Other genera in Grallatoridae with a full profile.

Anchisauripus Atreipus Banisterobates Eubrontes Grallator Pengxianpus

Named by Welles 4

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

Dilophosaurus Kayentapus Liliensternus Piveteausaurus

Found in France 7

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

Grallator Eubrontes Plateosaurus Actiosaurus Coelurosaurichnus Mafatrisauropus Thecodontosaurus

Credits

Where this page comes from

Paleobiology DatabaseCC BY 4.0 · fossil records, ages, classification
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