What supports a feeding claim?
Use the linked evidence beneath each animal to check its diet description. A Source supported label and an Inferred label carry different meanings. Open the dossier to see the rest of the animal's anatomy, size references, fossil locations and research sources.
The notes preserve limits such as an uncertain menu, proposed prey or a distinction between hunting and scavenging. This directory leaves explicitly debated or unestablished diet classifications in the full catalog instead of assigning them a settled feeding category.
Follow a name to the complete animal
A diet is one part of a prehistoric animal's story. Read its summary, compare the galleries and inspect the individual claims in its dossier. Use the Reading list to keep a research profile, or visit Discover collections to meet its fictional game variants.
The plant-eating directory offers a separate browsing route. The full catalog also keeps animals whose diet needs a more qualified description.
Explore carnivorous dinosaurs by name
57 linked profiles. Choose a name for the complete exhibit and sources.
A
Acrocanthosaurus
Meat eater Source supported
The skull and blade-like teeth support carnivory. Trackway-based stories about particular hunting sequences are not adopted as demonstrated behaviour. [1] [2]
Albertosaurus
Meat eater Source supported
Sharp serrated teeth support carnivory. Cooperative pursuit and particular prey preferences require additional evidence. [1]
Alioramus
Meat-eating tyrannosaurid Inferred
Carnivory is supported by the toothed skull and museum profile. Precise prey preferences are not established. [1]
Allosaurus
Meat eater; feeding on other dinosaurs Source supported
Serrated teeth and attributed feeding traces support carnivory. Feeding traces do not by themselves distinguish hunting from scavenging. [1] [2]
Archaeopteryx
Probably small animals Inferred
NHM proposes small reptiles, mammals or insects from its teeth and ecosystem context. These proposed foods are not reported gut contents. [1]
Australovenator
Meat-eating with serrated teeth Inferred
Recurved, compressed tooth crowns support a cutting dentition. Sharing a fossil deposit with a sauropod does not prove a predation event. [1]
B
Baryonyx
Fish and other dinosaur remains Source supported
Fish scales and Iguanodon bones were found in the skeleton's apparent stomach region. Those remains support mixed feeding but do not distinguish hunting from scavenging. [1]
Buitreraptor
Small animal prey inferred Inferred
Small, unserrated teeth and limb modeling favor capture of small prey; particular prey species are unverified. [1] [2]
C
Carcharodontosaurus
Meat eater Source supported
Long serrated teeth support carnivory. Specific prey choices and killing techniques remain anatomical interpretations. [1]
Carnotaurus
Meat eater Source supported
The skull and teeth identify a carnivore. Their shape alone does not establish a precise prey list or killing technique. [1]
Ceratosaurus
Meat eater Source supported
Its teeth support carnivory. Hypotheses about aquatic prey or scavenging particular dinosaurs do not establish a complete diet. [1] [2]
Chilantaisaurus
Carnivory inferred comparatively Inferred
Theropod relationships support predatory feeding as a comparative interpretation. The historically associated tooth was excluded, so it is not secure direct evidence of this species’ dentition or meals. [1]
Chindesaurus
Carnivory inferred by comparison Inferred
Museum classification as a carnivore is comparative, rather than preserved Chindesaurus teeth or stomach contents. [1]
Coelophysis
Small vertebrates and other animals Source supported
Sharp teeth and grasping claws support carnivory. NHM explains that the remains once taken for a swallowed baby Coelophysis instead belong to a small crocodile. [1]
Compsognathus
Carnivore; small reptile remains preserved Source supported
MNHN describes small rhynchocephalian remains in the Canjuers specimen's rib region. That meal does not define every prey item across the genus. [1]
Cryolophosaurus
Carnivore; other animals Source supported
NHM describes sharp pointed teeth and a diet of other animals. Specific prey species are not established by these sources. [1]
D
Daemonosaurus
Animal prey inferred Inferred
Enlarged, forward-angled front teeth support carnivory, but no gut contents or taxon-specific hunting behavior were identified. [1]
Daspletosaurus
Meat eater Source supported
Large curved, serrated teeth support carnivory. Feeding and gut-content claims involving other or historically uncertain Daspletosaurus material are not transferred to this species. [1]
Dilong
Small predatory tyrannosauroid Inferred
Toothed anatomy supports carnivory. Cranial modelling compares possible feeding performance, rather than establishing prey choice or hunting tactics. [1] [2]
Dilophosaurus
Meat eater Source supported
The revised anatomy supports a substantial predator with powerful jaw muscles. Specific prey preferences are not established by that anatomy alone. [1] [2]
Dineobellator
Carnivory inferred. Inferred
Dromaeosaurid teeth and grasping anatomy support animal feeding; a particular prey species or hunting method is not demonstrated. [1]
Dracovenator
Animal prey inferred Inferred
Preserved jaw and tooth anatomy supports carnivory. The name’s hunting interpretation does not document a specific prey animal. [1]
Dryptosaurus
Carnivore; grasping role proposed Inferred
The skeleton suggests both jaws and hands could assist feeding; their exact use remains uncertain. [1]
E
Eodromaeus
Predatory feeding Inferred
Recurved teeth and clawed grasping hands support carnivory; exact prey choices are not demonstrated. [1]
F
Fukuiraptor
Animal foods Inferred
The museum identifies carnivory. Reviewed evidence does not establish a preferred prey species, habitual scavenging or cooperative hunting. [1]
G
Giganotosaurus
Meat eater Source supported
Blade-like serrated teeth support carnivory. Proposals about hunting giant sauropods are less secure than the dietary classification. [1]
Guanlong
Animal prey inferred Inferred
Serrated teeth support predatory feeding; particular prey, hunting style and stomach contents are not established. [1]
H
Herrerasaurus
Meat eater with recurved teeth Inferred
The teeth and grasping arms support predatory feeding. Exact prey selection is not established in the reviewed profiles. [1]
L
Liliensternus
Animal prey inferred Inferred
The museum profile classifies it as carnivorous; no particular prey is identified by the reviewed sources. [1]
M
Majungasaurus
Carnivore; sauropods and conspecific carcasses Source supported
Tooth-marked bones establish carcass consumption, including its own species. They do not establish that Majungasaurus killed the individuals it consumed. [1] [2]
Mapusaurus
Carnivorous dinosaur. Inferred
Predatory classification does not identify preferred prey or cooperative hunting. [1]
Masiakasaurus
Animal feeding inferred Inferred
Predatory teeth support carnivory; particular prey and hunting tactics remain unverified. [1]
Megalosaurus
Meat-eating Inferred
The museum identifies it as a carnivore; this does not specify prey choice or hunting strategy. [1]
Megaraptor
Carnivory inferred from skull and teeth Inferred
Juvenile MUCPv 595 preserves predatory dentition, including differing premaxillary and posterior tooth shapes. A particular prey species or hunting strategy is not established. [1]
Microraptor
Small vertebrates, including fish and lizards Source supported
NHM reports preserved stomach remains of mammals, birds, fish and a lizard. This establishes consumption, rather than proving every meal was hunted. [1]
Monolophosaurus
Carnivorous theropod Inferred
The museum identifies meat-eating. No specific meal, prey preference or stomach content is established by the reviewed evidence. [1]
N
Neovenator
Meat-eating theropod Inferred
The museum identifies carnivory. Specific prey, routine bone eating and aquatic feeding are not established by this designation. [1]
O
Ornitholestes
Carnivory inferred; bird prey unconfirmed Inferred
The museum classifies it as a carnivore. No inspected gut contents or tooth marks establish birds as regular or exclusive food. [1]
P
Patagonykus
Animal feeding inferred; food unverified Inferred
Family-level carnivory and insectivory hypotheses rely on comparisons. Newly studied intestinal evidence belongs to Bannykus; it cannot establish Patagonykus prey or specialization. [1]
Piatnitzkysaurus
Animal feeding inferred Inferred
The museum identifies a carnivore; no preserved meal or specific hunting strategy is adopted. [1]
Proceratosaurus
Carnivory inferred Inferred
Serrated teeth support animal feeding. A digital cranial study tests mechanical performance under assumptions; it does not identify meals or observed bite forces. [1] [2]
Q
Qianzhousaurus
Animal-eater Source supported
Research-team sources identify carnivory. Its long narrow jaws do not identify a preserved meal or a particular prey species. [1]
R
Rajasaurus
Animal foods; prey selection unresolved Inferred
The museum identifies carnivory and discusses hunting or scavenging as possibilities. Reviewed evidence does not identify a regular prey species, exclusive scavenging or a quantitative bite force. [1]
Rugops
Animal foods; scavenging is a hypothesis Inferred
The discovery page discusses possible scavenging. It does not establish exclusive scavenging, a particular prey menu or the force generated by the jaws. [1]
S
Sinosauropteryx
Small animals; lizard meal preserved Source supported
A lizard preserved with a Sinosauropteryx specimen supplies direct evidence of a vertebrate meal. Mammal-bearing material historically referred to the genus includes disputed or reclassified specimens, so it is not used here to establish Sinosauropteryx species diets. One preserved meal does not establish a complete diet. [1] [2]
Spinosaurus
Fish eating likely; other prey possible Inferred
The narrow snout and conical teeth support fish feeding. They do not establish an exclusively fish diet. [1]
Suchomimus
Fish eating proposed Inferred
Its long narrow snout and rounded, fluted teeth support a fish-feeding interpretation. They do not prove an exclusively fish diet. [1]
T
Tarbosaurus
Meat eater Source supported
The large jaw and serrated teeth support carnivory. Anatomy does not by itself determine the balance of hunting and scavenging. [1]
Tawa
Animal prey inferred Inferred
Theropod-like dentition supports carnivory. Front premaxillary teeth are unserrated; particular prey and hunting tactics are unverified. [1]
Timurlengia
Carnivory inferred Inferred
Slender, blade-like teeth were interpreted as suited to slicing meat. Suggested pursuit hunting and prey choices remain interpretations, without an observed meal. [1]
Torvosaurus
Meat-eating predator Inferred
The Morrison record places T. tanneri among large predatory theropods. Co-occurrence with herbivores does not identify a confirmed prey menu. [1]
Tyrannosaurus
Meat; hunting and scavenging Source supported
Teeth, bite marks on herbivores and bone fragments in attributed dung support meat and bone consumption. Feeding marks alone do not identify a kill. [1]
U
Unenlagia
Carnivory inferred Inferred
Institutional classification; no skull or direct prey evidence in the described type material. [1] [2]
Utahraptor
Carnivore; dinosaur prey possible Source supported
Meat-eating anatomy is documented. UGS interprets the Stikes association as Utahraptor approaching trapped iguanodonts, a reconstruction rather than direct observation. [1] [2]
V
Velociraptor
Meat eater Source supported
Sharp teeth and grasping anatomy support carnivory. Specific feeding tactics are interpretations of anatomy and fossils. [1]
X
Xiongguanlong
Carnivory inferred Inferred
Serrated teeth support animal feeding. The long, shallow skull differs from giant tyrannosaurid heads; exact prey preferences remain uncertain. [1]
Y
Yutyrannus
Carnivore; large terrestrial predator Source supported
The museum identifies this species as a carnivorous bipedal predator; particular prey choices are not established here. [1]