[D] Zhuchengtyrannus magnus [sG] [T]
Describer
Hone, Wang, Sullivan, Zhao, Chen, Li., Ji Shuan, Ji Q. & Xu 2011
Time
Cretaceous Late Campanian
Classification
Saurischia Theropoda Tyrannosauria Tyrannosauroidea Tyrannosauridae Tyrannosaurinae
Diet
Carnivore
Fossilsite
Wangshi Series, Zangjiazhuang, Zhucheng City, Shandong Province, China
Info
Abstract
Tyrannosaurids are primarily gigantic, predatory theropod dinosaurs of the Cretaceous. Here we report a new member of the tyrannosaurid clade Tyrannosaurinae from the Upper Cretaceous Wangshi Group of Zhucheng, Shandong Province, China, based on a maxilla and associated dentary. The discovery of this animal, here named Zhuchengtyrannus magnus gen. et sp. nov., adds to the known diversity of tyrannosaurids in Asia.
Z. magnus can be identified by a horizontal shelf on the lateral surface of the base of the ascending process, and a rounded notch in the anterior margin of the maxillary fenestra. Several additional features contribute to a unique combination of character states that serves to further distinguish Z. magnus from other taxa. Comparisons with other tyrannosaurids suggest that Zhuchengtyrannus was a very large theropod, comparable in size to both Tarbosaurus and Tyrannosaurus.
Holotype
Zhucheng Dinosaur Museum (ZCDM) V0031, a nearly complete right maxilla and associated left dentary, both with teeth in situ. Casts of the maxilla and dentary are held at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology as IVPP FV 1794.
Etymology
Generic name in honour of the city of Zhucheng, from which the materialwas recovered, with the suffix ‘tyrannus’ from the Latin for ‘king’ or ‘tyrant’. Specific name ‘magnus’ from the Latin for ‘great’, in reference to the size of the animal.
Age & locality
Zangjiazhuang, Zhucheng City, Shandong Province; Upper Cretaceous Wangshi Group (Hu et al., 2001). Within the fluvial sediments of the Wangshi Group, the abundant dinosaur material preserved in the Zhucheng quarries lies near the transition between the Xingezhuang Formation and the overlying Hongtuya Formation (Li et al., 2009). Basalt within the upper part of the Hongtuya Formation has been radiometrically dated to an age of 73.5 Ma (Campanian), which establishes a minimum bound on the age of the dinosaur deposits. Apart from the tyrannosaurid material, specimens so far recovered from the Zanjiazhuang quarry include hadrosaurids (probably Shantungosaurus), unidentified ankylosaurs, and a large-bodied ceratopsid (Xu et al., 2010).
Diagnosis
A large tyrannosaurine theropod dinosaur distinguished from other tyrannosaurine taxa by the following features of the maxilla: a horizontal shelf on the lateral surface of the base of the ascending process, and a rounded notch in the anterior margin of the maxillary fenestra. Zhuchengtyrannus magnus also possesses the following unique combination of characters: the ventral margin of the antorbital fenestra lies well above that of the ventral rim of the antorbital fossa, and the anteroposterior length of the maxillary fenestra is more than half the distance between the anterior margins of the antorbital fossa and fenestra.
Zhuchengtyrannus magnus can be distinguished from the contemporaneous Asian tyrannosaurine Tarbosaurus bataar by the absence of a subcutaneous flange on the posterodorsal part of the jugal ramus of the maxilla, and the absence of a ventrally convex palatal shelf that covers the bulges of the roots of the posterior teeth in medial view.
Hone, Wang, Sullivan, Zhao, Chen, Li., Ji Shuan, Ji Q. & Xu 2011
Time
Cretaceous Late Campanian
Classification
Saurischia Theropoda Tyrannosauria Tyrannosauroidea Tyrannosauridae Tyrannosaurinae
Diet
Carnivore
Fossilsite
Wangshi Series, Zangjiazhuang, Zhucheng City, Shandong Province, China
Info
Abstract
Tyrannosaurids are primarily gigantic, predatory theropod dinosaurs of the Cretaceous. Here we report a new member of the tyrannosaurid clade Tyrannosaurinae from the Upper Cretaceous Wangshi Group of Zhucheng, Shandong Province, China, based on a maxilla and associated dentary. The discovery of this animal, here named Zhuchengtyrannus magnus gen. et sp. nov., adds to the known diversity of tyrannosaurids in Asia.
Z. magnus can be identified by a horizontal shelf on the lateral surface of the base of the ascending process, and a rounded notch in the anterior margin of the maxillary fenestra. Several additional features contribute to a unique combination of character states that serves to further distinguish Z. magnus from other taxa. Comparisons with other tyrannosaurids suggest that Zhuchengtyrannus was a very large theropod, comparable in size to both Tarbosaurus and Tyrannosaurus.
Holotype
Zhucheng Dinosaur Museum (ZCDM) V0031, a nearly complete right maxilla and associated left dentary, both with teeth in situ. Casts of the maxilla and dentary are held at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology as IVPP FV 1794.
Etymology
Generic name in honour of the city of Zhucheng, from which the materialwas recovered, with the suffix ‘tyrannus’ from the Latin for ‘king’ or ‘tyrant’. Specific name ‘magnus’ from the Latin for ‘great’, in reference to the size of the animal.
Age & locality
Zangjiazhuang, Zhucheng City, Shandong Province; Upper Cretaceous Wangshi Group (Hu et al., 2001). Within the fluvial sediments of the Wangshi Group, the abundant dinosaur material preserved in the Zhucheng quarries lies near the transition between the Xingezhuang Formation and the overlying Hongtuya Formation (Li et al., 2009). Basalt within the upper part of the Hongtuya Formation has been radiometrically dated to an age of 73.5 Ma (Campanian), which establishes a minimum bound on the age of the dinosaur deposits. Apart from the tyrannosaurid material, specimens so far recovered from the Zanjiazhuang quarry include hadrosaurids (probably Shantungosaurus), unidentified ankylosaurs, and a large-bodied ceratopsid (Xu et al., 2010).
Diagnosis
A large tyrannosaurine theropod dinosaur distinguished from other tyrannosaurine taxa by the following features of the maxilla: a horizontal shelf on the lateral surface of the base of the ascending process, and a rounded notch in the anterior margin of the maxillary fenestra. Zhuchengtyrannus magnus also possesses the following unique combination of characters: the ventral margin of the antorbital fenestra lies well above that of the ventral rim of the antorbital fossa, and the anteroposterior length of the maxillary fenestra is more than half the distance between the anterior margins of the antorbital fossa and fenestra.
Zhuchengtyrannus magnus can be distinguished from the contemporaneous Asian tyrannosaurine Tarbosaurus bataar by the absence of a subcutaneous flange on the posterodorsal part of the jugal ramus of the maxilla, and the absence of a ventrally convex palatal shelf that covers the bulges of the roots of the posterior teeth in medial view.