Dinosaurs · Large theropod

Dryptosaurus

Say it drip-toe-SORE-us. The name means ‘tearing lizard’.

Dryptosaurus beside a person 1.75 m tall. Ticks mark every metre.Body shape drawn for this site, showing the general build of large theropods

Length: 6.4 m
Diet: Meat-eater
When: Late Cretaceous84 to 66 million years ago
Fossils found in: USA
Named by: Cope (1866)
Family tree: Dinosauria › Saurischia › Theropoda › Tyrannosauroidea

Where Dryptosaurus sits in the age of dinosaurs.Periods from the ICS chart; dinosaur dates from the Natural History Museum

Large theropods. Big two-legged meat-eaters, such as Tyrannosaurus. See all 63

Lived at the same time

Achelousaurus · same country
Bambiraptor · same country
Gryposaurus · same country
Lophorhothon · same country
Thescelosaurus · same country
Ornithomimus · same country
Gorgosaurus · same country
Euoplocephalus · same country

Other large theropods

Anserimimus Late Cretaceous
Aucasaurus Late Cretaceous
Majungasaurus Late Cretaceous
Nanshiungosaurus Late Cretaceous
Gorgosaurus Late Cretaceous
Alectrosaurus Late Cretaceous
Albertosaurus Late Cretaceous
Daspletosaurus Late Cretaceous

Source: Dryptosaurus in the Natural History Museum Dino Directory, read 12 November 2026. Sizes are the museum's estimates for a typical adult. "Lived at the same time" lists dinosaurs whose dates overlap, which does not always mean they met.