Lanzhousaurus

Lan-zoo-sor-us.
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Emily Green

Paleobotanist

Emily Green brings the ancient world of plants to life through her insightful research and engaging writing. Her expertise lies in examining how prehistoric vegetation influenced climate patterns and animal evolution.

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Name

Lanzhousaurus.

Phonetic

Lan-zoo-sor-us.

Named By

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Ornithishcia,‭ ‬Ornithopoda,‭ ‬Ankylopollexia,‭ ‬Styracosterna.

Diet

Herbivore.

Species

L.‭ ‬magnidens‭

Size

Holotype jaw reconstructed at a length of about one meter.‭ ‬Teeth measured at up to fourteen centimetres.

Known locations

China.

Time Period

Barremian of the Cretaceous.

Fossil representation

Partial jaw and some partial post cranial remains including cervical and dorsal vertebrae,‭ ‬ribs and a partial pelvis.

In Depth

       Reconstructions of Lanzhousaurus are sketchy at best,‭ ‬but with a jaw length of one meter,‭ ‬it is near certain that in life Lanzhousaurus would have been a very large ornithopod dinosaur.‭ ‬Following this trend,‭ ‬the teeth that have been preserved in the lower jaw are also unusually large,‭ ‬and at fourteen centimetres in length each,‭ ‬are actually the largest known for any plant eating animal ever‭ (‬functional processing teeth as opposed to tusks‭)‬.‭ ‬Why did Lanzhousaurus have such large teeth‭? ‬The answer is we just don’t know yet for certain,‭ ‬though it was almost certainly for some kind of adaptation,‭ ‬specialist feeding or otherwise.

Further Reading

-‭ ‬Lanzhousaurus magnidens gen.‭ ‬et sp.‭ ‬nov.‭ ‬from Gansu Province,‭ ‬China:‭ ‬the largest-toothed herbivorous dinosaur in the world.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Geological Bulletin of China‭ ‬24‭(‬9‭)‬:785-794‭ ‬-‭ ‬H.‭ ‬You,‭ ‬Q.‭ ‬Ji‭ & ‬D.‭ ‬Li‭ ‬-‭ ‬2005. – Stable Isotopes Reveal Rapid Enamel Elongation (Amelogenesis) Rates for the Early Cretaceous Iguanodontian Dinosaur Lanzhousaurus magnidens. – Scientific Reports 7, Article number: 15319 (2017). – Celina A. Suarez, Hai-Lu You, Marina B. Suarez, Da-Qing Li & J. B. Trieschmann – 2017.

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