Tongtianlong
Combines a reference to the nearby Tongtianyan grotto in Jiangxi, China, with Chinese 'long' meaning 'dragon'; 'Tongtian' also means 'road to heaven' in Chinese.
Late Cretaceous stages
Tongtianlong is a genus of oviraptorid theropod dinosaurs that lived in the late Maastrichtian epoch of the late Cretaceous period. It contains one species, T. limosus.
Diagnosis
- Dome-like skull roof with highest point above posterodorsal corner of orbit
- Anterior margin of premaxilla highly convex in lateral view
- Plate-like lacrimal shaft that is anteroposteriorly long with flat lateral surface
- Distinct process at middle of anterior margin of parietal on skull roof
- Foramen magnum smaller than occipital condyle
- Absence of symphyseal ventral process of dentary
Species
Tongtianlong limosus Lü et al., 2016
Type species
From Latin 'limosus' meaning 'muddy', referring to how the holotype specimen was preserved in mudstone, with the specimen's unusual death pose speculatively interpreted as the animal having died while trapped in mud.
- Holotype
- DYM-2013-8 , Dongyang Museum
- Material
- Nearly complete skeleton
- Horizon
- Nanxiong Formation, Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 72.2–66.0 million years ago
- Locality
- No. 3 high school of Ganxian, Jiangxi, China
References
- Lü, J.; Chen, R.; Brusatte, S. L.; Zhu, Y.; Shen, C. (2016). A Late Cretaceous diversification of Asian oviraptorid dinosaurs: evidence from a new species preserved in an unusual posture. Scientific Reports 6(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/srep35780 lü2016a
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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