Dinosaur genus

Thanatotheristes

Voris et al. 2020

Thanatotheristes is a dinosaur genus known from bones, found in rocks 83.6–72.2 million years old, in Canada.

Confidence labels

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At a glance

Data as of 11 October 2026

83.6–72.2 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: Voris et al. 2020
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Described in: J. T. Voris, F. Therrien, D. K. Zelenitsky, C. M. Brown (2020). A new tyrannosaurine (Theropoda:Tyrannosauridae) from the Campanian Foremost Formation of Alberta, Canada, provides insight into the evolution and biogeography of tyrannosaurids. Cretaceous Research 110: 104388:1–15. Read it
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; its author and year match the naming authority (Voris et al. 2020).
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: Thanatotheristes degrootorum
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Lived: Campanian, 83.6–72.2 million years ago
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Omnisaura calculation83.6–72.2 million years ago, from its dated fossil records
low
low: Omnisaura's calculation from only 2 dated record(s).
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Fossils found in: Canada
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (2 records).
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Union of all sources (ISO 3166).
Rock formations: Foremost
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (2 records).
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Canonical names, automatic and editor-approved matches applied.
Family: Tyrannosauridae
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Parent group: Daspletosaurini
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: Thanatotheristes degrootorum
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 Coelurosauria, 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).

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.
Resting on one source: 6 facts come from a single source with nothing against them (rated medium): authority (PBDB); 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…?

Did Thanatotheristes meet ?

Same time, different places. Their fossils overlap in age, 83.6 to 72.2 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 Thanatotheristes by where and when their fossils were found, by classification and by who named them. Select a name to open its page.

Same rocks, same time 5

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

Colepiocephale Saurornitholestes Paronychodon Richardoestesia Dromaeosaurus

Same family: Tyrannosauridae 11

Other genera in Tyrannosauridae with a full profile.

Albertosaurus Alioramus Asiatyrannus Bagaraatan Bistahieversor Daspletosaurus Gorgosaurus Labocania Tarbosaurus Teratophoneus Tyrannosaurus

Named by Voris 1

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

Khankhuuluu

Found in Canada 73

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

Saurornitholestes Richardoestesia Centrosaurus Troodon Paronychodon Dromaeosaurus Corythosaurus Chasmosaurus Lambeosaurus Stegoceras Gorgosaurus Prosaurolophus Stenonychosaurus Euoplocephalus Styracosaurus Daspletosaurusand 57 more

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