Outline: a typical theropod
Tongtianlong
"Tongtianyan dragon"
- Lived
- 72 to 66 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Omnivore
- Group
- Theropods, Oviraptoridae
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Lü et al. 2016
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
70 million years ago
Field notes
About Tongtianlong
What it was like
Tongtianlong was an oviraptorid, a feathered theropod with a toothless beak and a domed crest on its head. Its skeleton was found with its arms spread and head raised, as if it died stuck in mud.
Its world
It lived about 72 to 66 million years ago, near the end of the Cretaceous, in what is now China. It comes from the Hekou Formation, where it shared the land with the crested oviraptorids Corythoraptor and Huanansaurus.
How it was found
Lü and colleagues named Tongtianlong in 2016. The fossil was found by construction workers using explosives.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
Close relatives
Other members of Oviraptoridae
Sources: WikidataNamed in: J. Lü, R. Chen, and S. L. Brusatte, Y. Zhu, C. Shen. 2016. A Late Cretaceous diversification of Asian oviraptorid dinosaurs: evidence from a new species preserved in an unusual posture. Scientific Reports 6:35780:1-12