Tianchisaurus

‭ ‬Ti-an-che-sor-us.
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Lilah Turner

Evolutionary Biologist

Lilah Turner investigates how prehistoric animals adapted to changing environments, offering insights into evolution's mechanisms.

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Name

Tianchisaurus ‭(‬Heavenly pool lizard‭)‬.

Phonetic

‭ ‬Ti-an-che-sor-us.

Named By

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Ornithischia,‭ ‬Thyreophora,‭ ‬Ankylosauria.

Diet

Herbivore.

Species

T.‭ ‬nedegoapeferima‭

Size

Unavailable.

Known locations

China,‭ ‬Xinjiang‭ ‬-‭ ‬Toutunhe Formation.

Time Period

Mid Jurassic.

Fossil representation

Skull and partial post cranial skeleton.

In Depth

       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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