Omnisaura

Dinosaur genus

Piveteausaurus

Taquet and Welles 1977

Piveteausaurus is a dinosaur genus known from bones, found in rocks 165.3–161.5 million years old, in France.

Confidence labels
How sure are we?2 high5 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
165.3–161.5 Ma
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
252 million years ago20114366

Solid: the ages of its dated fossils, 165.3–161.5 million years ago (Omnisaura's calculation). Pale: the published range, 165.3–154.8 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
Taquet and Welles 1977
highhigh: PBDB and Wikidata agree.
Sources

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

Described in
P. Taquet, S. P. Welles (1977). Redescription du crâne de dinosaure théropode de Dives (Normandie) [Redescription of a theropod dinosaur skull from Dives (Normandy)]. Annales de Paléontologie (Vertébrés) 63(2): 191–206.
highhigh: PBDB gives this publication for the name; its author and year match the naming authority (Taquet and Welles 1977), 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
Piveteausaurus divesensis
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources

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

Lived
Callovian to Oxfordian, 165.3–154.8 million years ago
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Omnisaura calculation165.3–161.5 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
France
lowlow: Only one PBDB record.
Sources

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

Rock formations
Marnes de Dives
lowlow: Only one PBDB record.
Sources

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

Family
Megalosauridae
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources

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

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

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

Diet
carnivore (inferred for its group)
mediummedium: 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)
lowlow: 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).

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.
  • Common names: no source we use gives it yet.
  • What it was named after: no source we use gives it yet.
  • Held back: 2 fossil records left out: identified only tentatively (for example "cf.", "?" or the name in quotation marks).
  • 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…?

?

No. Piveteausaurus had gone at least 77.9 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 Piveteausaurus by where and when their fossils were found, by classification and by who named them. Select a name to open its page.

PiveteausaurusSame rocks, same timeSame familySame naming authorAlso found in FranceMegalosaurusAfrovenatorTorvosaurusand 1 moreDilophosauripusDilophosaurusKayentapusLiliensternusand 2 moreLoricatosaurusand 1 more

Same rocks, same time 1

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

Megalosaurus

Same family: Megalosauridae 3

Other genera in Megalosauridae with a full profile.

AfrovenatorMegalosaurusTorvosaurus

Named by Taquet and Welles 6

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

DilophosauripusDilophosaurusKayentapusLiliensternusOuranosaurusPyroraptor

Found in France 2

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

MegalosaurusLoricatosaurus

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.