Appalachiosaurus

Appalachiosaurus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 82–77.9 Ma
Reconstructed skeleton, Tellus Science Museum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: Eutyrannosauria
Genus: Appalachiosaurus
Carr et al., 2005
Species:
A. montgomeriensis
Binomial name
Appalachiosaurus montgomeriensis
Carr et al., 2005

Appalachiosaurus (/ˌæpəˌliˈsɔːrəs/ AP-ə-LAY-chee-oh-SOR-əs; "Appalachian lizard") is a genus of tyrannosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period of what is now eastern North America. It was a basal member of the Eutyrannosauria clade meaning it was rather close in relation to the true tyrannosaurids such as Tyrannosaurus. Like most theropods, it was a bipedal predator. Only a juvenile skeleton has been found, representing an animal approximately 6.5 metres (21 ft) long and weighing 623 kilograms (1,373 lb), which indicates an adult would have been significantly larger.

Fossils of Appalachiosaurus were found in central Alabama's Demopolis Chalk Formation. This formation dates to the middle of the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous, around 77 million years ago.[1] Fossil material assigned to A. montgomeriensis is also known from the Donoho Creek and Tar Heel-Coachman formations of North and South Carolina in 2007[2], as well as the Blufftown and Ripley formations in Georgia.

  1. ^ Carr, T.D.; Williamson, T.E.; Schwimmer, D.R. (2005). "A new genus and species of tyrannosauroid from the Late Cretaceous (middle Campanian) Demopolis Formation of Alabama". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 25 (1): 119–143. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2005)025[0119:ANGASO]2.0.CO;2. S2CID 86243316.
  2. ^ Brownstein, Chase D. (2018-02-08). "The biogeography and ecology of the Cretaceous non-avian dinosaurs of Appalachia". Palaeontologia Electronica. 21 (1): 1–56. doi:10.26879/801. ISSN 1094-8074.