Gorgosaurus libratus

Gorgosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in western North America during the Late Cretaceous Period (Campanian), between about 76.5 and 73 million years ago. Fossil remains have been found in Western Canada as well as the U.S. state of Montana. Paleontologists recognize only the type species, G. libratus, although other species have been erroneously referred to the genus.

Gorgosaurus libratus

Sebastian Bergmann from Siegburg, Germany · CC BY-SA 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
GorgosaurusPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Coelurosauria
Life habit
ground dwelling, solitaryPBDB, for Theropoda
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Theropoda
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Theropoda

Time the record covers

At most 12 million years on record.

Every occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 83.6 Mya and 72.2 Mya, and nothing in the dating separates them, so that window is what the record shows rather than a span.

Late Cretaceous — about 15 of 15 occurrencesLate Cretaceous84–83 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences83–83 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences83–82 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences82–82 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences82–82 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences82–81 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences81–81 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences81–80 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences80–80 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences80–80 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences80–79 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences79–79 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences79–78 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences78–78 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences78–77 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences77–77 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences77–77 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences77–76 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences76–76 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences76–75 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences75–75 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences75–75 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences75–74 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences74–74 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences74–73 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences73–73 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences73–73 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences73–72 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences84.1 Mya71.7 Mya

15 occurrences of Gorgosaurus libratus on record, most of them in the Late Cretaceous. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

15 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

3 formations

Dinosaur Park — 50.74°N, 111.53°WDinosaur Park — 50.72°N, 111.56°WDinosaur Park — 50.79°N, 111.60°WDinosaur Park — 50.75°N, 111.48°WDinosaur Park — 50.41°N, 110.29°WDinosaur Park — 50.60°N, 111.62°WJudith River — 47.77°N, 108.95°WJudith River — 47.72°N, 109.64°WOldman — 50.69°N, 111.62°W

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The named rock units Gorgosaurus libratus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Gorgosaurus libratus and its relatives

Late Cretaceous

Where Gorgosaurus libratus and its relatives were recorded in the Late Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

54 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 15 sites for Gorgosaurus libratus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

10 references

Each of the 15 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Gorgosaurus libratus

Credit
Sebastian Bergmann from Siegburg, Germany
Licence
CC BY-SA 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Laser scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Gorgosaurus libratus · amnh:farb:5664

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itGorgosaurus through timeFormations of the Late CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Lambe 1914)