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beaked plant-eater
Tanius
Say it like this: “TAHN-ee-us”
Tanius sinensis
Tanius ate plants and walked on two or four legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in China.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Campanian · Maastrichtian) · roughly 83.6 to 66 million years ago
- Named in
- 1929 · Wiman, C.
- Hip height
- 2.3 m · 8 ft
- Length
- 7 m · 23 ft
- Weight
- 2 tonnes
- Found in
- China · Jiangjunding
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Two or four legs
- Kind
- beaked plant-eater · Ornithopod
- Family branch
- Hadrosauromorpha
The story in short
The genus Tanius dates to 1929, the year C. Wiman described it. The name means “of Tan.”
Fossils referred to Tanius date to the Late Cretaceous (Campanian · Maastrichtian), roughly 83.6 to 66 million years ago. Finds come from China, including the Jiangjunding Formation. It was a herbivore and could move on two or four legs.
Published estimates put Tanius at a length near 7 m, hips about 2.3 m high, and a body mass around 2 tonnes.
On the family tree it sits in Hadrosauromorpha, among the ornithopod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Bactrosaurus
Bactrosaurus johnsoni
Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
Claosaurus
Claosaurus agilis
Late Cretaceous (Coniacian · Santonian) · roughly 89.8 to 83.6 million years ago
Eolambia
Eolambia caroljonesa
Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) · roughly 100.5 to 93.9 million years ago