Zhuchengtyrannus

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Zhuchengtyrannus
Temporal range: Campanian
~73.5  Ma
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Zhuchengtyrannus mount.jpg
Reconstructed skeleton, with missing bones cast from Tyrannosaurus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Family: Tyrannosauridae
Subfamily: Tyrannosaurinae
Clade: Tyrannosaurini
Genus: Zhuchengtyrannus
Hone et al., 2011
Type species
Zhuchengtyrannus magnus
Hone et al., 2011
Synonyms

Zhuchengtyrannus (meaning "Zhucheng tyrant") is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur known from the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous of Shandong Province, China. It belongs to the subfamily Tyrannosaurinae, and contains a single species, Zhuchengtyrannus magnus.

Contents

Discovery and naming

Diagram showing known remains Zhuchengtyrannus magnus ZCDM V0031.png
Diagram showing known remains

Zhuchengtyrannus was first described and named by David W. E. Hone, Kebai Wang, Corwin Sullivan, Xijin Zhao, Shuqing Chen, Dunjin Li, Shuan Ji, Qiang Ji and Xing Xu in 2011 and the type species is Zhuchengtyrannus magnus. The generic name is derived from the word Zhucheng, which refers to the type locality, and tyrant in reference to its phylogenetic position as a tyrannosaurid. The specific name magnus meaning "great" in Latin refers to the relatively large size of Zhuchengtyrannus. [1]

Zhuchengtyrannus is known solely from the holotype ZCDM V0031, a nearly complete right maxilla and associated left dentary (lower jaw, both with teeth) discovered around 2010 with the Sinankylosaurus holotype, [2] and is currently housed at the Zhucheng Dinosaur Museum. Casts of the holotype, IVPP FV 1794, are held at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. ZCDM V0031 was collected in the Hongtuya Formation [3] from the Wangshi Group at Zangjiazhuang quarry, Zhucheng City, dating to the Campanian stage, at least 73.5 million years ago. A second tyrannosaurid dentary (ZCDM V0030) and maxilla (ZCDM V0032) have also been collected at Zangjiazhuang quarry. Even though they were not associated with one another, both specimens are different from other tyrannosaurids, including Zhuchengtyrannus, implying the existence of at least one additional tyrannosaurid from the quarry. Apart from the tyrannosaurid material, specimens of Sinoceratops , hadrosaurids (probably Shantungosaurus ) and ankylosaurs such as Sinankylosaurus were recovered from it. [1] Zhuchengtyrannus was found in an area that was a floodplain in the Cretaceous period and contains one of the highest concentrations of dinosaur bones in the world. [4]

Description

Estimated size compared to a human Zhuchengtyrannus size.png
Estimated size compared to a human

Zhuchengtyrannus was a large carnivorous theropod, and the holotype has been estimated to have been "similar in size and gross morphology to Tarbosaurus ", [1] which is about 11 metres (36 ft) in body length and 5 metric tons (5.5 short tons) in body mass. [5] [6] [7] The holotype dentary was significantly smaller than the corresponding bones of one of the largest Tyrannosaurus specimens ("Sue"). [8]

Life restoration Zhuchengtyrannus magnus reconstruction.jpg
Life restoration

Zhuchengtyrannus can be distinguished from all other tyrannosaurines by a single autapomorphy, the presence of a horizontal shelf on the lateral surface of the base of the ascending process of the maxilla, and a rounded notch in the anterior margin of the maxillary fenestra. Zhuchengtyrannus also possesses a ventral margin of the antorbital fenestra that lies well above that of the ventral rim of the antorbital fossa. Additionally, the total length of the maxillary fenestra is more than half the distance between the anterior margins of the antorbital fossa and fenestra. Unlike the contemporaneous Tarbosaurus , Zhuchengtyrannus lacks a subcutaneous flange on the posterodorsal part of the jugal ramus of the maxilla, and a ventrally convex palatal shelf that covers the bulges of the roots of the rear teeth in medial view. [1]

Classification

Teeth of "Tyrannosaurus zhuchengensis" at the Geological Museum of China "Tyrannosaurus Zhuchengensis" teeth at the Geological Museum of China.jpg
Teeth of " Tyrannosaurus zhuchengensis" at the Geological Museum of China

It is possible that several isolated teeth from one of the Zhucheng dinosaur quarries, previously given the name Tyrannosaurus zhuchengensis, belong to this or a related species. The T. zhuchengensis teeth are characterized by serrations that extend all the way to the base of the tooth crown, a feature not seen in any other tyrannosaurine species. All known teeth of Zhuchengtyrannus are too poorly preserved in this area to compare with T. zhuchengensis, but further finds may clarify their relationship. [1]

A phylogenetic analysis published with the description of the tyrannosaurine Lythronax in the journal PLOS One by Loewen et al. 2013, recovered Zhuchengtyrannus as the sister taxon of Tarbosaurus . It also suggests that Zhuchengtyrannus and other currently known Asian tyrannosaurids were part of an evolutionary radiation descending from the same North American stem that later gave rise to Tyrannosaurus , recovered as their closest known relative. Below are the results obtained in their phylogenetic analysis: [9]

Restored skeleton mounted as attacking a juvenile Shantungosaurus Laika ac Dino Kingdom 2012 (7882287974).jpg
Restored skeleton mounted as attacking a juvenile Shantungosaurus
Tyrannosauridae


More recent study by Voris et al in 2020 recovered Zuchengtyrannus as the sister taxon to a clade containing the Maastrichtian genera Tyrannosaurus and Tarbosaurus, [10] see this phylogeny below.

Tyrannosaurinae


See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Tyrannosaurus</i> Genus of Late Cretaceous theropod

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyrannosauridae</span> Family of dinosaurs

Tyrannosauridae is a family of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs that comprises two subfamilies containing up to thirteen genera, including the eponymous Tyrannosaurus. The exact number of genera is controversial, with some experts recognizing as few as three. All of these animals lived near the end of the Cretaceous Period and their fossils have been found only in North America and Asia.

<i>Tarbosaurus</i> Tyrannosaurid dinosaur genus from Late Cretaceous of Mongolia

Tarbosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurine theropod dinosaur that lived in Asia about 82 - 68 million years ago, during the Maastrichtian age at the end of the Late Cretaceous period, considered to contain a single known species: Tarbosaurus bataar. Fossils have been recovered from the Nemegt and Djadochta Formations of Mongolia, with more fragmentary remains found further afield in the Subashi Formation of China and the Jingangkou Formation of South Korea, along the South Korean Peninsula.

<i>Daspletosaurus</i> Genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur from Late Cretaceous period

Daspletosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur that lived in Laramidia between about 78 and 74.4 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period. The genus Daspletosaurus contains three named species. Fossils of the earlier type species, D. torosus, have been found in Alberta, while fossils of a later species, D. horneri, have been found only in Montana. D. wilsoni has been suggested as an intermediate species between D. torosus and D. horneri that evolved through anagenesis, but this theory has been disputed by other researchers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyrannosauroidea</span> Extinct superfamily of dinosaurs

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyrannosaurinae</span> Extinct subfamily of dinosaurs

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<i>Sinoceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Sinoceratops is an extinct genus of ceratopsian dinosaur that lived approximately 73 million years ago during the latter part of the Cretaceous Period in what is now Shandong province in China. It was named in 2010 by Xu Xing et al. for three skulls from Zhucheng, China. The name of its type species Sinoceratops zhuchengensis means "Chinese horned face from Zhucheng", after the location of its discovery.

<i>Teratophoneus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Teratophoneus is a genus of tyrannosaurine theropod dinosaur that lived during the late Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous period, in what is now Utah. It contains a single known species, T. curriei. It is known from an incomplete skull and postcranial skeleton recovered from the Kaiparowits Formation and was specifically named T. curriei in honor of famed paleontologist Philip J. Currie.

<i>Lythronax</i> Genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period

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<i>Nanuqsaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alioramini</span> Extinct tribe of tyrannosaurid dinosaurs

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of tyrannosaur research</span>

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Zhuchengtitan is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Shandong, China. It contains a single species, Z. zangjiazhuangensis, named by Mo Jinyou and colleagues in 2017 from a single humerus. Zhuchengtitan can be identified by the extreme width of the top end of its humerus, as well as the expansion of the deltopectoral crest on its humerus; both of these characteristics indicate that it was likely closely related to Opisthocoelicaudia. However, it differs from the latter by the flatter bottom articulating surface of its humerus. Zhuchengtitan lived in a floodplain environment alongside Shantungosaurus, Zhuchengtyrannus, and Sinoceratops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eutyrannosauria</span> Clade of theropods

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<i>Dynamoterror</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Dynamoterror is a monospecific genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur from New Mexico that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now the upper Allison Member of the Menefee Formation. The type and only species, Dynamoterror dynastes, is known from a subadult or adult individual about 9 metres long with an incomplete associated skeleton. It was named in 2018 by Andrew T. McDonald, Douglas G. Wolfe and Alton C. Dooley, Jr. Dynamoterror was closely related to Teratophoneus and Lythronax.

<i>Thanatotheristes</i> Daspletosaurin tyrannosaurid of the mid-Campanian

Thanatotheristes is a genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Laramidia, approximately 80.1-79.5 Ma. Thanatotheristes contains only one species, T. degrootorum. Fossils of this taxon are found in the Foremost Formation of Alberta, Canada, coexisting with medium-sized ceratopsids like Xenoceratops foremostensis and small pachycephalosaurids like Colepiocephale lambei.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daspletosaurini</span> Extinct clade of tyrannosaurid dinosaurs

Daspletosaurini is an extinct clade of tyrannosaurine dinosaurs that lived in Laramidia during the Late Cretaceous period. It consists of two genera: Daspletosaurus and Thanatotheristes. Four species have been described in the two genera, namely Daspletosaurus torosus, Daspletosaurus horneri, Daspletosaurus wilsoni, and Thanatotheristes degrootorum. At one point all of them were assigned as specimens of D. torosus, but several papers since 2017 have found them to represent distinct species. Some researchers found anagenesis in the group, whether contained in a daspletosaurin clade or paraphyletic in respect to the lineage of tyrannosaurines leading up to Tyrannosaurus, but a 2023 study refuted this theory on the basis of morphological and stratigraphical data.

Sinankylosaurus is a genus of dinosaur, originally described as an ankylosaur, from the Late Cretaceous Hongtuya Formation of Shandong, China. The genus contains a single species, Sinankylosaurus zhuchengensis, known from a nearly complete right ilium. The describers claim that the discovery of Sinankylosaurus further demonstrates the similarity between dinosaurs of eastern Asia and western North America.

References

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  2. "Shandong discovers new dinosaur with spikes!". yqqlm. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  3. "PBDB". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  4. "New dino in same league as T. rex". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
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  6. Molina-Pérez & Larramendi (2016). Récords y curiosidades de los dinosaurios Terópodos y otros dinosauromorfos. Barcelona, Spain: Larousse. p. 267. ISBN   9780565094973.
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  8. Hone D (3 April 2011). "So just how big was Zhuchengtyrannus?". archosaurmusings.wordpress.com.
  9. Loewen, M. A.; Irmis, R. B.; Sertich, J. J. W.; Currie, P. J.; Sampson, S. D. (2013). Evans, D. C. (ed.). "Tyrant Dinosaur Evolution Tracks the Rise and Fall of Late Cretaceous Oceans". PLOS ONE. 8 (11): e79420. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...879420L. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0079420 . PMC   3819173 . PMID   24223179.
  10. Voris, Jared T.; Therrien, Francois; Zelenitzky, Darla K.; Brown, Caleb M. (2020). "A new tyrannosaurine (Theropoda:Tyrannosauridae) from the Campanian Foremost Formation of Alberta, Canada, provides insight into the evolution and biogeography of tyrannosaurids". Cretaceous Research. 110: 104388. Bibcode:2020CrRes.11004388V. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104388. S2CID   213838772.{{cite journal}}: External link in |title= (help)