Lanzhousaurus_magnidens

<i>Lanzhousaurus</i>

Lanzhousaurus

Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Lanzhousaurus (meaning "Lanzhou lizard") is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur. Lanzhousaurus lived in the Gansu region of what is now China during the Early Cretaceous (Barremian). A partial skeleton has been recovered from the Hekou Group. It was described by You, Ji and Li in 2005 and the type and only species is Lanzhousaurus magnidens.[1] It's been estimated to be about 10 meters (33 feet) in length and 6 tonnes (6.6 short tons) in weight.[2]

Quick Facts Scientific classification, Type species ...

Dentition

Jaw and teeth of Lanzhousaurus

The genus has been described as having "astonishingly huge teeth", among the largest for any herbivorous creature ever, which indicate it was a styracosternan iguanodont. The mandible, longer than one meter, suggests a very large size for the animal. Tooth enamel of this dinosaur was growing very rapidly.[3]

Classification

Life restoration

In their 2020 reassessment of the hadrosauromorph Orthomerus, Madzia, Jagt & Mulder ran phylogenetic analyses of Iguanodontia. In their analyses, Lanzhousaurus was recovered as a non-hadrosauriform styracosternan member of the Ankylopollexia, similar to the 2005 description by You, Ji & Li. The results of their phylogenetic analyses are shown in the cladogram below:[4][1]

Ankylopollexia

References

  1. [1]
    You, Hailu; Ji, Qiang; Li, Daqing (2005). "Lanzhousaurus magnidens gen. et sp. nov. from Gansu Province, China: the largest-toothed herbivorous dinosaur in the world" [中国甘肃发现世界上最大牙齿的植食性恐龙：巨齿兰州龙(新属、新种)]. Geological Bulletin of China. 24 (9): 785–794. ISSN 1671-2552.
  2. [2]
    Paul, Gregory S. (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 319.
  3. [3]
    Celina A. Suarez, Hai-Lu You, Marina B. Suarez, Da-Qing Li & J. B. Trieschmann (2017). Stable Isotopes Reveal Rapid Enamel Elongation (Amelogenesis) Rates for the Early Cretaceous Iguanodontian Dinosaur Lanzhousaurus magnidens. Scientific Reports 7, Article number: 15319 (2017). doi:10.1038/s41598-017-15653-6
  4. [4]
    Madzia, Daniel; Jagt, John W. M.; Mulder, Eric W. A. (2020-04-01). "Osteology, phylogenetic affinities and taxonomic status of the enigmatic late Maastrichtian ornithopod taxon Orthomerus dolloi (Dinosauria, Ornithischia)". Cretaceous Research. 108: 104334. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104334. ISSN 0195-6671.


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