Qianzhousaurus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Qianzhousaurus |
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| Restored skull cast at Japan | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Tyrannosauridae |
| Subfamily: | †Tyrannosaurinae |
| Tribe: | †Alioramini |
| Genus: | †Qianzhousaurus Lü et al., 2014 |
| Type species | |
| †Qianzhousaurus sinensis Lü et al., 2014
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Qianzhousaurus is a type of dinosaur that lived a very long time ago, during the Late Cretaceous period. This was about 67 to 66 million years ago! It belongs to a group of dinosaurs called theropods, which were meat-eaters, just like the famous Tyrannosaurus rex. So far, scientists have only found one species of Qianzhousaurus, which is called Qianzhousaurus sinensis.
This dinosaur is often called 'Pinocchio rex'. Can you guess why? It's because it had a really long snout, much longer than other known tyrannosaurs. Scientists first wrote about Qianzhousaurus in May 2014, after it was found in southern China.
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What Made Qianzhousaurus Special?
Besides its unique long snout, Qianzhousaurus also had long, thin teeth. This was different from T. rex, which had thick teeth and very strong jaws. These differences suggest that Qianzhousaurus hunted and ate in a different way.
Its thinner teeth and lighter bones probably mean it hunted smaller animals. It might have eaten creatures like lizards or smaller feathered dinosaurs. This shows that not all tyrannosaurs were exactly alike!
How Was It Discovered?
The bones of Qianzhousaurus were found by construction workers. They were working near the city of Ganzhou in China. After finding the bones, the workers took them to a local museum. That's how scientists got to study this amazing new dinosaur!
Long-Snouted Tyrannosaurs in Asia
The discovery of Qianzhousaurus was very important. It showed that long-snouted tyrannosaurs were common in Asia. Another dinosaur called Alioramus, found in Mongolia, also had a long snout.
Scientists are still learning a lot about these dinosaurs. But it seems they were a major group of meat-eating dinosaurs in Asia. Their existence was suspected before, but Qianzhousaurus proved they were real. One expert said this find "tells us pretty clearly that these long-snouted tyrannosaurs were a real thing. They were a different kind of dinosaur, living right up to the end of the age of dinosaurs."
Images for kids
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This map shows where the city of Ganzhou is. This is the area where the first Qianzhousaurus bones were found.
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This is a picture of what Qianzhousaurus might have looked like when it was alive.
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This is a drawing of the skull of Alioramus remotus. Alioramus is a close relative of Qianzhousaurus.
