Tianchisaurus
From Chinese meaning 'heavenly pool lizard', referring to Tianchi (Heavenly Lake) near the discovery locality in Xinjiang, China.
Tianchisaurus, also invalidly called Tianchiasaurus and "Jurassosaurus", is a genus of ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Toutunhe Formation of China. While many later-diverging ankylosaurids had bony clubs at the tips of their tails, Tianchisaurus likely lacked such a structure.
Species
Tianchisaurus nedegoapeferima Dong, 1993 Nomen dubium
Type species
Formed from syllables of the surnames of the principal cast of the 1993 film Jurassic Park: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Bob Peck, Martin Ferrero, Ariana Richards, and Joseph Mazzello, as a gift from director Steven Spielberg honoring the cast at the completion of filming.
- Holotype
- IVPP V10614 , Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
- Material
- Fragments of skull, five cervical, six dorsal, seven sacral, and three caudal vertebrae; some limb bone fragments; many scutes
- Horizon
- upper Toutunhe Formation, Callovian, Middle Jurassic , 165.3–161.5 million years ago
- Locality
- Sangonghe Valley, Xinjiang, China
Synonyms of the genus
| Name | Type | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Jurassosaurus | nomen nudum | Proposed by Don Lessem with a specific name honoring the Jurassic Park cast; Dong Zhiming ultimately discarded the name in favor of Tianchisaurus. |
| Sangonghesaurus | junior subjective | Informal name used for the same fossils later formally described as Tianchisaurus. |
| Tenchisaurus | informal | Unpublished museum name for the specimen later formally described as Tianchisaurus. |
| Tianchiasaurus | junior objective | Variant spelling appearing alongside Tianchisaurus in Dong's 1993 description paper; Dong's 1994 erratum confirmed Tianchisaurus as the correct name. |
References
- Dong, Z. (1993). An ankylosaur (ornithischian dinosaur) from the Middle Jurassic of the Junggar Basin, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 31(4): 257-266. dong1993a
-
Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.
Source of the body length estimate, and the appearance features.
jones2026a -
Arbour, V. M.; Currie, P. J. (2015). Systematics, phylogeny and palaeobiogeography of the ankylosaurid dinosaurs. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 14(5): 385-444. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/14772019.2015.1059985
Regards it as a nomen dubium, Ankylosauria indet.; the holotype could not be located in 2010, its supposed tail club is probably not one, and it lacks distinguishing characters.
arbour2015a