Zhuchengtyrannus

Zhuchengtyrannus (meaning "Zhucheng tyrant") is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur known from the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous of Shandong Province, China.

ZCDM V0031 was collected in the Hongtuya Formation[3] from the Wangshi Group at Zangjiazhuang quarry, Zhucheng City, dating to the Campanian stage, at least 73.5 million years ago.

[8] Zhuchengtyrannus can be distinguished from all other tyrannosaurines by a single autapomorphy, the presence of a horizontal shelf on the lateral surface of the base of the ascending process of the maxilla, and a rounded notch in the anterior margin of the maxillary fenestra.

Unlike the contemporaneous Tarbosaurus, Zhuchengtyrannus lacks a subcutaneous flange on the posterodorsal part of the jugal ramus of the maxilla, and a ventrally convex palatal shelf that covers the bulges of the roots of the rear teeth in medial view.

It also suggests that Zhuchengtyrannus and other currently known Asian tyrannosaurids were part of an evolutionary radiation descending from the same North American stem that later gave rise to Tyrannosaurus, recovered as their closest known relative.

Diagram showing known remains
Estimated size compared to a human
Metatarsal and teeth of "" Tyrannosaurus zhuchengensis "" at the Geological Museum of China
Restored skeleton mounted as attacking a juvenile Shantungosaurus