Fossil Hotspots
Known fossil-bearing formations around the world. Each hotspot includes a geologic timeline, notable animal selected mapped records, and a modern discovery map showing where specimens have been unearthed.
Download the hotspot atlas map
Turn all 21 fossil hotspots into one source-stamped 4:5 poster, every formation plotted on a world map, color-keyed by continent. Built for Instagram, Reddit, X, Discord, and Pinterest.
North America
12 formationsAntlers Formation
Oklahoma and Texas, USA
- Age
- 115-108 Ma
- Notable
- 1
- Mapped
- 1
An Early Cretaceous southern Great Plains formation that adds a compact predator-and-sauropod context to the atlas.
Cedar Mountain Formation
Utah and Colorado, USA
- Age
- 127-98 Ma
- Notable
- 3
- Mapped
- 5
An Early Cretaceous western US formation that bridges Jurassic-style faunas and later Cretaceous ecosystems.
Cloverly Formation
Montana and Wyoming, USA
- Age
- 115-108 Ma
- Notable
- 1
- Mapped
- 9
An Early Cretaceous formation best known in Fossil Atlas for linking Deinonychus records with broader North American dinosaur context.
Denver Formation
Front Range, Colorado, USA
- Age
- 68-66 Ma
- Notable
- 5
- Mapped
- 7
A latest Cretaceous to early Paleocene unit along Colorado's Front Range, built from sediment shed off the rising ancestral Rocky Mountains. Its uppermost Cretaceous beds preserve Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops close to the end-Cretaceous extinction.
Dinosaur Park Formation
Alberta, Canada
- Age
- 77-75 Ma
- Notable
- 4
- Mapped
- 14
A Late Cretaceous unit in southern Alberta that preserves one of the richest dinosaur assemblages in North America, including hadrosaurs, ceratopsians, and tyrannosaurids.
Frenchman Formation
Southern Saskatchewan, Canada
- Age
- 68-66 Ma
- Notable
- 5
- Mapped
- 6
The youngest Cretaceous dinosaur-bearing unit of the Canadian prairies, exposed across southern Saskatchewan. The Frenchman Formation has yielded Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus rex, including the well-known 'Scotty' specimen, right up to the extinction boundary.
Hell Creek Formation
Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming, USA
- Age
- 68-66 Ma
- Notable
- 5
- Mapped
- 163
A latest Cretaceous rock unit across the northern Great Plains, famous for preserving Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, and other vertebrates close to the end-Cretaceous extinction interval.
Judith River Formation
Montana, USA and southern Alberta, Canada
- Age
- 80-75 Ma
- Notable
- 3
- Mapped
- 33
A Late Cretaceous formation of the northern Western Interior, important for ceratopsian, hadrosaur, and theropod fossil records.
Kayenta Formation
Arizona, USA
- Age
- 201-183 Ma
- Notable
- 1
- Mapped
- 3
An Early Jurassic formation of the Colorado Plateau that preserves Dilophosaurus records and other early Mesozoic fossil context.
Kirtland Formation
New Mexico, USA
- Age
- 75-73 Ma
- Notable
- 1
- Mapped
- 26
A Late Cretaceous formation in the San Juan Basin that gives Fossil Atlas a southwestern North America thread for hadrosaur and theropod records.
Lance Formation
Eastern Wyoming and the northern Great Plains, USA
- Age
- 69-66 Ma
- Notable
- 5
- Mapped
- 81
A latest Cretaceous rock unit of the northern Great Plains, deposited in the final million years before the end-Cretaceous extinction. The Lance is a classic source of Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus rex material and is closely comparable to the neighbouring Hell Creek Formation.
Morrison Formation
Western United States
- Age
- 155-145 Ma
- Notable
- 4
- Mapped
- 805
A widespread Late Jurassic rock unit across the western United States, known for classic dinosaur quarry records including Stegosaurus and many sauropod and theropod fossils.
Europe
3 formationsLourinha Formation
Western Portugal
- Age
- 152-145 Ma
- Notable
- 1
- Mapped
- 4
A Late Jurassic Portuguese formation with dinosaur records that are often compared with Morrison-age Jurassic ecosystems.
Solnhofen Limestone
Bavaria, Germany
- Age
- 151-148 Ma
- Notable
- 1
- Mapped
- 2
A Late Jurassic limestone deposit famous for fine-grained lagoon preservation, including Archaeopteryx and other delicate fossils.
Wealden Group
Southern England, United Kingdom
- Age
- 140-113 Ma
- Notable
- 2
- Mapped
- 178
An Early Cretaceous British rock sequence central to early dinosaur science, including Iguanodon and related ornithopod records.
Africa
3 formationsEchkar Formation
Agadez Region, Niger
- Age
- 100-94 Ma
- Notable
- 2
- Mapped
- 4
A mid-Cretaceous Niger formation context for the Iullemmeden Basin and nearby Saharan dinosaur records. Fossil Atlas groups Echkar-region records with related Niger spinosaurid context, including the Suchomimus record from the Elrhaz Formation.
Kem Kem Group
Errachidia and Tafilalt, southeastern Morocco
- Age
- 100-94 Ma
- Notable
- 2
- Mapped
- 4
A Cretaceous (Cenomanian) sequence of red beds along the Algeria–Morocco border, famous for an unusually rich predatory dinosaur and crocodyliform fauna. The Kem Kem is the source of much of the Moroccan Spinosaurus material.
Tendaguru Formation
Lindi Region, Tanzania
- Age
- 152-145 Ma
- Notable
- 2
- Mapped
- 5
A famous Late Jurassic East African dinosaur formation with sauropod, stegosaur, and theropod records that broaden the atlas beyond North America.
Asia
3 formationsFlaming Cliffs
Omnogovi Province, Mongolia
- Age
- 75-71 Ma
- Notable
- 3
- Mapped
- 11
A celebrated Gobi Desert fossil area associated with Djadokhta Formation discoveries, including Velociraptor and other Late Cretaceous desert animals.
Jiufotang Formation
Liaoning, China
- Age
- 125-120 Ma
- Notable
- 1
- Mapped
- 3
An Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota formation known for exceptionally preserved feathered dinosaurs, birds, and lake-margin fossils.
Nemegt Formation
Gobi Desert, Mongolia
- Age
- 70-66 Ma
- Notable
- 5
- Mapped
- 40
A latest Cretaceous Mongolian formation known for large theropods, sauropods, ornithomimosaurs, and other Gobi Desert fossils.