Tianzhenosaurus

Tienzhenosaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Mounted skeleton
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Dinosauria
Order:	†Ornithischia
Family:	†Ankylosauridae
Subfamily:	†Ankylosaurinae
Genus:	†Tianzhenosaurus Pang & Cheng, 1998
Species:	†T. youngi
Binomial name
Tianzhenosaurus youngi Pang & Cheng, 1998

Tianzhenosaurus (Tianzhen + Greek sauros="lizard") is a genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur discovered in Tianzhen County, at Kangdailiang near Zhaojiagou Village, in Shanxi Province, China, in the Late Cretaceous Huiquanpu Formation. Thus far, a virtually complete skull and postcranial skeleton have been assigned to the genus, which is monotypic (T. youngi Pang & Cheng, 1998).

Close up of skull

This was a medium-sized ankylosaurian, the skull measuring 28 centimetres (11 in) in length, with a total body length of approximately 4 metres (13 ft).

Vickaryous et al. (2004) placed Tianzhenosaurus within the Ankylosauridae, nested as the sister group to Pinacosaurus. Some authors have suggested that Tianzhenosaurus is actually a junior synonym of Saichania chulsanensis.

See also

• Timeline of ankylosaur research

Sources

• Carpenter, K. (ed.) The Armored Dinosaurs. pp. 454–483. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
• Pang, Q and Cheng, Z. 1998. "A new ankylosaur of the late Cretaceous from Tianzhen, Shanxi". Progress in Natural Science 8(3):326-334.
• Vickaryous, Maryanska, and Weishampel 2004. Chapter Seventeen: "Ankylosauria". in The Dinosauria (2nd edition), Weishampel, D. B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H., editors. University of California Press.