Zhuchengtyrannus

What it was like

Zhuchengtyrannus was a large, meat-eating tyrannosaurid, built along the same lines as close relatives such as Tyrannosaurus and Tarbosaurus. It had a deep, powerful skull, thick teeth suited to crushing bone, and small forelimbs compared to its powerful hind legs. Like other tyrannosaurids, it walked on two legs and was almost certainly the top predator in its habitat, likely preying on the large plant eaters that shared its world.

Its world

Zhuchengtyrannus lived in what is now China during the Late Cretaceous, between about 84 and 72 million years ago. Its fossils come from the same rock layers that have produced the enormous hadrosaur Shantungosaurus, along with the horned Sinoceratops and the armored Sinankylosaurus, all found in unusually large numbers at the same site.

How it was found

Hone and colleagues named Zhuchengtyrannus in 2011, based on jaw and skull bones. Only one fossil find has been reported so far, though its close relatives include Alioramus and Qianzhousaurus, both smaller tyrannosaurids from elsewhere in Asia.