Qianzhousaurus
CHEN-jo-SAWR-us
A relative of the fearsome apex predator Tyrannosaurus rex, Qianzhousaurus bears a resemblance to its more famous cousin, although it is significantly smaller (growing up to around eight tonnes and over 10m from head to tail) and has a distinctive elongated snout. Although its jaw is less powerful than larger Tyrannosaurids, its ability to run at speed makes Qianzhousaurus an efficient predator.
Discovery
Qianzhousaurus is one of the most recent dinosaur discoveries, with the first specimen unearthed in 2010 by builders at the Nanxiong Formation in Ganzhou, China. The remains consisted of a number of vertebrae as well as multiple leg bones and a partial skull, which were sent for study by Chinese palaeontologists including Junchang Lu and Laiping Yi, who named the new genus Qianzhousaurus in reference to the location of its discovery.
Palaeoecology
Qianzhousaurus lived in China and other parts of Asia during the Late Cretaceous period, around 66m years ago. Research has shown that its jaws were best suited to preying on small dinosaurs and lizards, with experts suggesting that it was one of the most effective predators of its period.
Information
- Era
- Late Cretaceous
- Family
- Tyrannosauridae
- Genus
- Qianzhousaurus
- Height
- 3.5M
- Length
- 10M
- Weight
- 7.9T
- Diet
- Carnivore, Live Prey
- Egg batch size
- 2 - 4
