Introduction:
Asiatyrannus is the latest, new tyrannosaurine theropod discovered from the Nanxiong Formation of China. The name translates to ‘Asian Tyrant‘ and I feel like you guys would know the meaning every time the word ‘Tyranno‘ comes up and it seems like paleontologists do love the word ‘Tyranno‘ with the meaning, ‘tyrant‘. Now, you might be wondering what is so special about another tyrannosaurine and the reason is that, as the research or discovery of Asian tyrannosaurs is very rare and not so well-studied, unlike the American tyrannosaurs.
So far, only 14 species from the entire superfamily of tyrannosauroidea with some undetermined species and this dinosaur helps in creating a more complete ecology of Late Cretaceous China with a tyrannosaurine in the mix. Asiatyrannus was probably the last tyrannosaurine of Asia because along the same time, only another tyrannosaurinae, from a different clade, Alioramini, was the Qianzhousaurus. Now, that we got to understand some bits about the Asiatyrannus, let’s learn somethings more about it!
Discovery:
Asiatyrannus was discovered in the Nanxiong Formation in China in the year of 2017, which was a while back and stayed in the museum for quite sometime before Zheng et al. finally researched and described the remains in 2024 and announced it as a new species. The full name is ‘Asiatyrannus xui‘ and ‘xui’ means prominent dinosaur researcher Xu Xing and his contributions to paleontological research in China.
The remains were mainly of an almost complete and articulated skull along with some tail vertebrae and most of the right and left leg bones. The skull was the dead giveaway that this tyrannosaur was not a part of the Alioramini clade as it’s skull was deep-snouted unlike an Alioramini which had a gracile and long snout. Plus, the body was slightly shorter than your average Alioramini, making it even more different as well as showcasing 2 different kinds of tyrannosaurs within a same environment.
Biology:
The discovery of Asiatyrannus does not end there as the remains are not of a fully matured individual which means that it could have grown twice the size it is now. Asiatyrannus measures up to 1.5 meters (5 feet) in height and 4 meters (13 feet) in length and it would grow even bigger than the tyrannosaur it shared its habitat with, the Qianzhousaurus.
As for its diet, I am pretty sure you already know that it is a carnivore and it would probably eat local lizards, turtles, crocodilians and any other smaller prey during its juvenile stage and then, when it would fully mature, it would hunt down the larger prey available in the ecosystem. Asiatyrannus would have lived in a temperate weather with a lot of forests and the forests would be inhabited with a lot of Oviraptorids, and I mean a lot for a single environment. There would have been an at least, 8 species of oviraptorids along with another large, unidentified tyrannosaur, a Therizinosaur named Nanshiungosaurus, as well as 2 titanosaurs, Gannansaurus and Jiangxititan.
Now you know all there is to know about Asiatyrannus and I would like to thank you for reading till here. I am planning to make my own illustration of an Asiatyrannus and I was wondering which version should I make, juvenile or adult and if you would like to have a dinosaur illustration of your own of any species, you can gladly order me on Fiverr for Dinosaur illustrations.
Merchandise:
I also do not want you to leave fully empty-handed and so I checked around the Internet for you to get at least a tyrannosaur themed merch and there is nothing better than the Beasts of Mesozoic, Tyrannosaur Series. They have tons of different Tyrannosaur species for you to get as well as some Asian tyrannosaurs. If you do get them, please mention this blog as where you got recommended from and I would be super glad if you did.
And if you want somethings more affordable and something from Jurassic World side of things, here are some links from the Amazon for you to get and I hope to see you again soon in new posts of Prehistoric Pedia.
