Qianzhousaurus

Qianzhousaurus (meaning "Qianzhou lizard") is a genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous period.

The holotype specimen, GM F10004, was unearthed in southern China, Ganzhou, at the Nanxiong Formation in the summer of 2010 during the construction of an industrial park and it was first described by paleontologists Junchang Lü, Laiping Yi, Stephen L. Brusatte, Ling Yang, Hua Li and Liu Chen in the journal Nature Communications in 2014.

[6] The taxon can be differentiated from other tyrannosaurids in having a highly narrowed premaxilla, a pneumatic opening on the upper extension of the maxilla, and the lack of a vertical ridge-like structure on the lateral surface of the ilium.

One part of the growth series across all specimens in this study was discovered to remain unique to alioramin tyrannosaurs, this being the rugose process of the jugal starts out small and conical, but becomes massive and indistinct as the animals grow.

This same study also suggests Alioramins did not undergo a secondary metamorphosis from slender juveniles to robust adults like other tyrannosaurs, but maintained a unique physiology better suited to pursuit of fast prey.

Furthermore, Alioramini seemingly remained confined to Asia, suggesting that some factor prevented them from colonizing the better-sampled fossil deposits from North America.

[10] The main lithology of this formation is composed by purplish mudstones and siltstones, deposited in a floodplain environment under a relatively warm, humid subtropical climate.

[17] Other vertebrates in the Nanxiong Formation include numerous oviraptorosaurs, such as Banji, Ganzhousaurus, Corythoraptor, Nankangia, Huanansaurus, Shixinggia, or Tongtianlong;[16][18] the hadrosaurid Microhadrosaurus (may be nomen dubium);[19] the sauropod Gannansaurus;[20] the therizinosaurid Nanshiungosaurus;[21] the crocodilian Jiangxisuchus;[22] the squamates Chianghsia and Tianyusaurus;[23] and the turtles Jiangxichelys and Nanhsiungchelys.

Map showing the locality of the Ganzhou city, region where the holotype was discovered
Holotype skull diagram of A. remotus , which together with A. altai , form the closest relatives of Qianzhousaurus
Qianzhousaurus (in blue) compared to other members of the Alioramini