Qianzhousaurus

Credit: Gabriel Ugueto.

*Qianzhousaurus*, also known as 'Pinocchio Rex', is an extinct genus of alioramin tyrannosaurid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous period.

## History

GM F10004, the holotype, was found in Nanxiong Formation, Ganzhou, south China in the summer of 2010 during industrial park construction. It was named by Junchang Lü, Laiping Yi, Stephen L. Brusatte, Ling Yang, Hua Li and Liu Chen (2014) in Nature Communications. The holotype is a partial subadult, with a near-complete skull with a toothless mandible (lost during fossilization), 9 cervical vertebrae, 3 dorsals, 18 caudals, 2 scapulocoracoids, a partial ilia, and a left hindlimb, comprised of the femur, tibia, fibula, astragalus and calcaneum, metatarsals III and IV. *Qianzhousaurus* is after Qianzhou, the old name of Ganzhou, where is was found. The specific epithet, sinensis, derives from the Greek Σῖναι (sin, sino, sinai), referencing China. The material was found by workmen, who took them to a local museum.

The lead author, Lü Junchang, states:

—Lü Junchang
The existence of long-snouted tyrannosaurs was suspected, due to inconclusive remains that could be explained as a juvenile form of a long-snouted taxon. However, co-author Stephen L. Brusatte notes:

—Stephen Brusatte
## Description

   *Qianzhousaurus* is differentiated from other taxa from a lack of vertical ridge-like structures on the lateral of the ilium. It differs from "traditional" tyrannosaurids by having a prominent, deep-set jaw with thick teeth. It's rostrum is extremely elongate, lined with narrow teeth. The holotype is larger and more mature than the holotype of both *Alioramus* sp.. Since partially-fused sutures between the cervicals and dorsals are present, the it is immature, likely being subadult. It had long legs, with a femur 70 centimeters (700 millimeters) long and a tibia 76 centimeters (760 millimeters) long.

Large fenestra on the ascending ramus of the maxilla, a very reduced premaxilla, a laterally straight and rod-like nasal that does not expand at the naris, anteroventrally-oriented ventral process of the lacrimal, a shallow dorsal prong of the anterior ramus of thr squamosal, an anteroposteriorly-oriented ventral process of the squamosal, the anterior edge of the dentary smoothly merging with the ventral dentary margin and a highly concave dorsal margin of the supradentary are diagnosed as definate autapomorphies in a 2022 redescription. The same redescription finds possible yet problematic autapomorphies: an ovoid foramen on the medial of the prearticular and limited medial exposure of the coronoid in the medial.

## Paleobiology

Cranial morphology suggests a weaker bite that other deep-skulled tyrannosaurines that is likely analogous to a different prey preference and feeding style. The holotype was determined to be an adult and the nasal rugosities grew less prominent with age.

## Classification

*Qianzhousaurus* led to the erection of Alioramini, and led researchers to believe it sits closer to Tyrannosaurus than to *Albertosaurus*, and is, therefore, a Tyrannosaurine. However, another analysis placed it outside Tyrannosaurinae and Albertosaurinae, being sister to Tyrannosauridae. The first analysis is below:

Lü et al. (2014) recombined it as *"Alioramus sinensis"*. In 2022, it was redescribed in detail and proven to be a valid taxon inside Alioramini. Foster et al. (2022) use this taxon to find lengthening of the anterior palate and the reflecting posterior bones in the mandible as giving alioraminins their characteristic elongate snouts, even though the posterior cranium is similar to proportionally similar deep-skulled tyrannosaurines.

## References

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qianzhousaurus
* https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon\_no=294803
* https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2021.1999251#.YgaCKTJG-Ko.twitter