Open Paleo

Anzu

Lamanna et al., 2014 AHN-zoo

Named for Anzu, a feathered demon from Mesopotamian (Sumerian and Akkadian) mythology.

72.2–66.0 million years ago Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Anzu is a genus of caenagnathid dinosaur from North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana that lived during the Late Cretaceous (upper Maastrichtian stage, 67.2-66.0 Ma) in what is now the Hell Creek Formation. The type species, Anzu wyliei, is known from numerous skeletons that preserve cranial and postcranial elements.

Diagnosis

  1. Tall, crescentic cranial crest formed by posterodorsal processes of premaxillae
  2. Body of maxilla lacking antorbital fossa
  3. Maxillary ascending process elongate and shaped like an inverted 'L'
  4. Prominent lateral flange on symphyseal region of dentary
  5. Elongate retroarticular process of mandible, subequal in anteroposterior length to quadrate articulation
  6. Distal end of radius divided into two rounded processes; sulcus on ventromedial aspect of manual phalanx II-1; tubercle on anterior surface of astragalus near base of ascending process

Species

Anzu wyliei Lamanna et al., 2014

Type species

Named for Wylie J. Tuttle, the grandson of one of the museum's donors, Lee B. Foster.

Holotype
CM 78000 , Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Material
Disarticulated partial skeleton including premaxilla fragments, incomplete braincase, both quadrates and pterygoids, mandible, cervical and caudal vertebrae, ribs, gastralia, hemal arches, both scapulocoracoids, right humerus, left radius/ulna/metacarpal II, manual phalanges, both femora, tibiae, fibulae, astragalocalcanea, and first metatarsals.
Horizon
Hell Creek Formation, Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 72.2–66.0 million years ago
Locality
approximately 23 km southwest of Buffalo, South Dakota, United States

References

  1. Lamanna, M. C.; Sues, H. D.; Schachner, E. R.; Lyson, T. R. (2014). A new large-bodied oviraptorosaurian theropod dinosaur from the latest Cretaceous of western North America. PLoS ONE 9(3): e92022. Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0092022 lamanna2014a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length, mass, and hip height estimates, and the appearance features.

    jones2026c