Dinosaurs A to Z
Tyrannosauridae

Asiatyrannus xui

"Asian tyrant"

Generic theropod body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Asiatyrannus 4 m (13.1 ft) long
as long as 3 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic theropod body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Asiatyrannus
Length
4 m (13.1 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (66.7 Mya)
Place
Asia · China
Food
Carnivore
Clade
Tyrannosauridae Dinosauria Saurischia Theropoda Coelurosauria Tyrannosauroidea Late-Cretaceous tyrants: T. rex, Tarbosaurus, Albertosaurus.
Asiatyrannus reconstruction by Ddinodan
Reconstruction · Ddinodan (CC-BY)

Asiatyrannus (meaning “Asian tyrant”) is an extinct genus of tyrannosaurine theropod dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous Nanxiong Formation of China. The genus contains a single species, Asiatyrannus xui, known from a single specimen consisting of a skull and partial skeleton. Asiatyrannus is notable for its deep-snouted skull and small body size, in contrast to the gracile snout and larger size of the contemporary Qianzhousaurus. It represents the southernmost record of an Asian tyrannosaurid. Some researchers have questioned the validity of Asiatyrannus, suggesting that its small size is due to its immaturity and that this specimen may represent a young individual of the better-known Tarbosaurus.

What we know

  • Named by Zheng et al., 2024.
  • Body length estimated at about 4 m.
  • Fossils found in Asia and China.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Asiatyrannus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.