Anzu

Say it like this: “AHN-zoo”

Anzu wyliei

Anzu ate plants and meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in the United States.

Quiz me on Anzu

When: Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago
Named in: 2014 · Lamanna, M. C.; Sues, H. D.; Schachner, E. R.; Lyson, T. R.
Hip height: 1.8 m · 6 ft
Length: 3.5 m · 11 ft
Weight: 200 kg · 441 lb
Found in: the United States · Hell Creek
Food and walking: Omnivore · Two legs
Kind: sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
Family branch: Caenagnathidae

The story in short

In 2014, M. C. Lamanna and colleagues published the name Anzu. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.

Fossils referred to Anzu date to the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago. Finds come from the United States, including the Hell Creek Formation. It was an omnivore and walked on two legs.

Published estimates put Anzu at a length near 3.5 m, hips about 1.8 m high, and a body mass around 200 kg.

On the family tree it sits in Caenagnathidae, among the theropod dinosaurs.

Close relatives

Anomalipes

Anomalipes zhaoi

Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago

Apatoraptor

Apatoraptor pennatus

Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago

Beibeilong

Beibeilong sinensis

Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian · Turonian) · roughly 100.5 to 89.8 million years ago