Tianchisaurus
Name:
Tianchisaurus
(Heavenly pool lizard).
Phonetic: Ti-an-che-sor-us.
Named By: Z. Dong - 1993.
Synonyms: Sanghongesaurus
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Ornithischia, Thyreophora, Ankylosauria.
Species: T. nedegoapeferima
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Unavailable.
Known locations: China, Xinjiang - Toutunhe
Formation.
Time period: Mid Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Skull and partial post
cranial skeleton.
Tianchisaurus
was originally dubbed (but never officially named) Jurassosaurus
because in the same year that it was named, the very first Jurassic
park film was released. Incidentally, the name Jurassosaurus was
suggested by Steven Spielberg who produced and directed the film.
Dong rejected the name Jurassosaurus in favour of Tianchisaurus,
but
kept the species name ‘nedegoapeferima’ as this
was created from
the surnames of the main actors of the film.
Tianchisaurus
was a primitive ankylosaur,
but one which has an uncertain
placement. To start the tail club seems to have been severely
underdeveloped, perhaps even absent and the jaws are also quite
narrow. These two features (or in the case of the club, lack of)
themselves are most commonly associated with nodosaurid dinosaurs,
close cousins of the ankylosaurid dinosaurs. For this reason most
palaeontologists prefer to list Tianchisaurus
within the Ankylosauria
which features both nodosaurid and ankylosaurid dinosaurs, but also
hold back upon a specific placement in either group until new specimens
and/or research can prove one over the other.
Further reading
- An ankylosaur (ornithischian dinosaur) from the Middle Jurassic
of the Junggar Basin, China. - Vertebrata PalAsiatica
31(4):257-266. - Z. Dong - 1993.
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