Timurlengia
- Lived
- 94 to 90 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Group
- Theropods
- Found in
- Uzbekistan
- Named by
- Brusatte et al. 2016
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
90 million years ago
Habitat
Rivers deposited the sands of the Bissekty Formation in what is now Uzbekistan. Turanoceratops and Bissektipelta lived in the same region.
Field notes
About Timurlengia
What it was like
Timurlengia was a horse-sized relative of the tyrannosaurs, known from a braincase and scattered bones of several animals. Its braincase shows that it already had the large inner ear of later tyrannosaurs, tuned to hear low sounds.
It suggests that tyrannosaurs developed their keen senses first and grew huge only later.
Its world
It lived about 94 to 90 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous, in what is now Uzbekistan. Its bones come from the Bissekty Formation, where it shared the land with the larger hunter Ulughbegsaurus and the horned Turanoceratops.
How it was found
Brusatte and colleagues named Timurlengia in 2016, after a famous conqueror from Central Asia.
Field gallery
More views of Timurlengia
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Timurlengia.
The evidence
The science behind Timurlengia
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- A braincase preserves the spaces occupied by its brain and inner ear.
- Its elongated inner ear was suited to hearing low sounds, much like that of later giant tyrannosaurs.
- Scattered jaw, backbone and limb bones have also been assigned to Timurlengia.
Borrowed from relatives
- The missing parts of its skeleton are restored by comparison with early tyrannosauroids such as Dilong.
- Simple feathers in Dilong suggest that Timurlengia may also have had a feather covering.
Still unknown
- Its full body proportions.
- How much of its body was covered in feathers.
- Its color.
Discovery timeline
- 2004Close relativeXu et al.
- 2012Full descriptionAverianov & Sues
- 2016Named itBrusatte et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Timurlengia
Close relative
Described Dilong with long arms and simple feathers, providing a comparison for the missing body covering of Timurlengia.
Basal tyrannosauroids from China and evidence for protofeathers in tyrannosauroids. Nature 431: 680-684
Read the paper : Basal tyrannosauroids from China and evidence for protofeathers in tyrannosauroids (opens in a new tab)Full description
Described scattered tyrannosauroid bones later assigned to Timurlengia and placed the animal outside the family of giant tyrannosaurs.
Skeletal remains of Tyrannosauroidea (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Bissekty Formation (Upper Cretaceous: Turonian) of Uzbekistan. Cretaceous Research 34: 284-297
Read the paper : Skeletal remains of Tyrannosauroidea (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Bissekty Formation (Upper Cretaceous: Turonian) of Uzbekistan (opens in a new tab)Named it
Named Timurlengia from its braincase and showed that advanced hearing evolved before the enormous bodies of later tyrannosaurs.
New tyrannosaur from the mid-Cretaceous of Uzbekistan clarifies evolution of giant body sizes and advanced senses in tyrant dinosaurs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113: 3447-3452
Read the paper : New tyrannosaur from the mid-Cretaceous of Uzbekistan clarifies evolution of giant body sizes and advanced senses in tyrant dinosaurs (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Tyrannosauroidea
Sources: Wikidata