Pronunciation: chee-EN-jo-SOR-us
Meaning: Qianzhou lizard
Author/s: Lü et al. (2014)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Ganzhou, China
Discovery Chart Position: #863
Qianzhousaurus sinensis
Because of a snout that accounts for 70% of its skull length Qianzhousaurus was nicknamed "Pinocchio rex". But unlike both species of fellow long-snouted Asian tyrannosaurid Alioramus, it's known from an adult specimen which proved that long faced-ness in Late Cretaceous tyrant lizards is not merely a juvenile specific feature as previously thought, but the hallmark of an entire Asia-exclusive tyrannosaurid sub-family known as Alioramini. Of course, that sub-family would only be useful if both species of Alioramus and Qianzhousaurus are distinct critters, but some experts suspect that they're all specimens of the first-named member, Alioramus remotus.
At nine meters in length and just shy of a ton in weight, Qianzhousaurus was almost top of the food chain in its eco-system, but not quite. It was unfortunate enough to co-exist with the larger, "traditional" tyrannosaurid Tarbosaurus, whose deep and robust snout, thick teeth and large jaw muscles were designed to crunch the bones of anything within biting distance. By comparison, Qianzhousaurus was more gracile and fleet of foot, with slicing rather than crushing teeth, and probably found itself a nice little niche chasing down the more elusive prey.
At nine meters in length and just shy of a ton in weight, Qianzhousaurus was almost top of the food chain in its eco-system, but not quite. It was unfortunate enough to co-exist with the larger, "traditional" tyrannosaurid Tarbosaurus, whose deep and robust snout, thick teeth and large jaw muscles were designed to crunch the bones of anything within biting distance. By comparison, Qianzhousaurus was more gracile and fleet of foot, with slicing rather than crushing teeth, and probably found itself a nice little niche chasing down the more elusive prey.
(Qianzhou lizard from China)Etymology
Qianzhousaurus is derived from "Qianzhou" (the ancient name of the city of Ganzhou) and the Greek "sauros" (lizard).
The species epithet, sinensis, is derived from the new Latin "sine" (China) and the Latin "ensis" (from), literally "from China" or just "Chinese".
ZooBank registry: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:DC0E6093-9DD2-45F3-A637-A30AD950D372.
Discovery
The remains of Qianzhousaurus were discovered in the Nanxiong Formation by workers at a construction site at Longling Town, Nankang, Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province, China, in 2013.
The holotype, from a single individual now housed at the Ganzhou Museum, includes a nearly complete skull and most of the left lower jaw (GM F10004-1), nine neck vertebrae (GM F10004-2), three back vertebrae (GM F10004-3), 18 tail vertebrae (GM F10004-4), a right shoulder girdle (GM F10004-5), a partial left shoulder girdle (GM F10004-6); both partial ilia (uppermost hip bones), and a thigh, shin, calf, ankle and metatarsals from the left hindlimb (GM F10004-7, 8).
