Omnisaura

Footprint type

Tyrannosauripus

Lockley and Hunt 1994

Tyrannosauripus 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 72.2–66 million years old in the United States and China.

Confidence labels
How sure are we?0 high5 medium5 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
72.2–66 Ma
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
252 million years ago20114366

Solid: the ages of its dated fossils, 72.2–66 million years ago (Omnisaura's calculation). Pale: the published range, 125.8–66 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
Lockley and Hunt 1994
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources

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

Described in
M. G. Lockley, A. P. Hunt (1994). A track of the giant theropod dinosaur Tyrannosaurus from close to the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary, northern New Mexico. Ichnos 3: 213–218. Read it
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; its author and year match the naming authority (Lockley and Hunt 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.

Dated to
Barremian to Maastrichtian, 125.8–66 million years ago
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Omnisaura calculation72.2–66 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.

Found in
China
lowlow: Only one PBDB record.
United States
lowlow: Only one PBDB record.
Sources

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

Rock formations
Hekou
lowlow: Only one PBDB record.
Raton
lowlow: Only one PBDB record.
Sources

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

Footprint family
Tyrannosauripodidae
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources

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

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

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

Species named in its records
Tyrannosauripus pillmorei
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), Wikidata (CC0 1.0)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.
  • Type species: no source we use gives it 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: 4 facts come from a single source with nothing against them (rated medium): authority (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…?

?

Same time, different places. Their fossils overlap in age, 72.2 to 66 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 Tyrannosauripus by where and when their fossils were found, by classification and by who named them. Select a name to open its page.

TyrannosauripusSame familySame naming authorAlso found in United StatesBellatoripesCeratopsipesStegopodusAnasazisaurusArkansaurusand 11 moreTriceratopsTyrannosaurusEdmontosaurusThescelosaurusand 50 more

Same family: Tyrannosauripodidae 1

Other genera in Tyrannosauripodidae with a full profile.

Bellatoripes

Named by Hunt and Lockley 15

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

CeratopsipesStegopodusAnasazisaurusArkansaurusBarrancapusCamposaurusCarmelopodusDinehichnusEosauropusHadrosauropodusNeoanomoepusOstendichnusParabrontopodusSiamopodusTherangospodus

Found in United States 54

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

TriceratopsTyrannosaurusEdmontosaurusThescelosaurusParonychodonRichardoestesiaPachycephalosaurusAlamosaurusTroodonSaurornitholestesDromaeosaurusAnkylosaurusChirostenotesOrnithomimusGlyptodontopeltaEdmontoniaand 38 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

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