Open Paleo

Qianzhousaurus

Lü et al., 2014 chee-EN-jo-SOR-us

Named for Qianzhou, the older name of Ganzhou, China, where the remains were discovered, combined with Greek 'sauros' meaning 'lizard'; meaning 'Qianzhou lizard.'

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

Qianzhousaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous period. There is currently only one species named, the type species Qianzhousaurus sinensis, which is a member of the tribe Alioramini and most closely related to Alioramus, the only other known alioramin.

Diagnosis

  1. Large fenestra on the ascending ramus of the maxilla (an ovoid accessory pneumatic fenestra posterodorsal to the maxillary fenestra, absent in other tyrannosauroids).
  2. Extremely reduced premaxilla (only ~2.2% of basal skull length, not elongated despite the longirostrine snout).
  3. Laterally straight, rod-like nasal that does not expand laterally around the naris region (unlike the hourglass shape in Alioramus).
  4. Anteroventrally oriented ventral process of the lacrimal.
  5. Gracile and shallow dorsal prong of the anterior ramus of the squamosal.
  6. Anteroposteriorly oriented ventral process of the squamosal.
  7. Anterior edge of the dentary smoothly merging with the ventral dentary margin.
  8. Highly concave dorsal margin of the supradentary.
  9. Absence of a pronounced vertical ridge on the lateral surface of the ilium (postcranial character retained from Lü and colleagues 2014).

Species

Qianzhousaurus sinensis Lü et al., 2014

Type species

From the Greek-derived Latin 'sinensis' meaning 'of China' or 'Chinese', derived from 'Sinai' (Σῖναι), a classical reference to China.

Holotype
GM F10004 , Gunma Museum of Natural History
Material
Partial individual with a nearly complete skull and almost complete left mandible, plus cervical, dorsal, and caudal vertebrae, scapulocoracoids, partial ilia, and the left leg; reinterpreted by Foster and colleagues as an adult — the most mature alioramin known — with highly fused cranial bones and well-developed ornamentation.
Horizon
Nanxiong Formation, Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 72.2–66.0 million years ago
Locality
Longling Town, Nankang, Ganzhou City, Jiangxi, China

References

  1. Lü, J.; Yi, L.; Brusatte, S. L.; Yang, L.; Li, H.; Chen, L. (2014). A new clade of Asian Late Cretaceous long-snouted tyrannosaurids. Nature Communications 5(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/ncomms4788 lü2014a
  2. Foster, W.; Brusatte, S. L.; Carr, T. D.; Williamson, T. E.; Yi, L.; Lü, J. (2021). The cranial anatomy of the long-snouted tyrannosaurid dinosaur Qianzhousaurus sinensis from the Upper Cretaceous of China. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 41(4): e1999251. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/02724634.2021.1999251

    Detailed cranial redescription of the holotype GM F10004; updates the diagnosis with new cranial autapomorphies and interprets the holotype as the adult (most mature) alioramin.

    foster2021a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the appearance features.

    jones2026c