A young (in terms of how long we have known it) alioramid tyrannosaur from China was first described in 2014 and was immediately given a rather interesting nickname. Due to the narrow and elongate snout, rather different from most other tyrannosaurs that possess dorsoventrally deep (i.e. tall from the bottom of the lower jaw to the the top of the skull) skulls, this dinosaur was given the nickname "Pinocchio rex". The real name of this slender-faced giant is Qianzhousaurus sinensis (Lu et al. 2014). Found in the southern Chinese province of Jianxi near the city of Ganzhou in 2010 (in the middle of a construction project), the holotype fossil consisted of a full skull (minus the teeth; more on this later), 30 vertebrae from along the entirety of the spinal column, parts of the shoulder and pelvic regions, and the majority of the left leg (some elements of the foot are missing). These remains were given the museum designation GM F10004, but the name Qianzhousaurus honors the city of Ganzhou (it is an alternate and older spelling of the city's name). the specific name, sinensis, is a derivative of the Greek word meaning "of/from China" and is used as a species name in many dinosaurs from China.
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| Size comparison of the three species in the tribe Alioramini, a group of
tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous of Asia. Composite image by User:Slate Weasel (public domain release) Theropods based on the following references:
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Animatronic restoration of Qianzhousaurus sinensis at Jurassic Quest drive-thru attraction. Photo by the author.
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