Dinosaurs A to Z
Ankylosauridae

Tianzhenosaurus

Generic ankylosaur body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Tianzhenosaurus 5 m (16.4 ft) long
as long as 3 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic ankylosaur body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Tianzhenosaurus
Length
5 m (16.4 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (99–71 Mya)
Place
China
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Ankylosauridae Dinosauria Ornithischia Thyreophora Ankylosauria Club-tailed armored herbivores.
Tianzhenosaurus reconstruction by Ddinodan
Reconstruction · Ddinodan (CC-BY)

Tianzhenosaurus (meaning “Tianzhen lizard”) is a genus of ankylosaurid dinosaurs known from the Late Cretaceous Huiquanpu Formation of Shanxi Province, China. The genus contains two species, T. youngi (the type species) and T. chengi. Some researchers have suggested that Tianzhenosaurus may represent a junior synonym of Saichania, an ankylosaurine from the Barun Goyot and Nemegt formations.

What we know

  • Named by Pang & Cheng, 1998.
  • Fossils found in China.

What we guess

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