Anzu wyliei
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Anzu Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 66 Ma |
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| Reconstructed skeleton, Carnegie Museum of Natural History | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Caenagnathidae |
| Subfamily: | †Caenagnathinae |
| Genus: |
†Anzu Lamanna et al., 2014 |
| Type species | |
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Anzu wyliei Lamanna et al., 2014 |
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Anzu (named for Anzû, a feathered demon in ancient Mesopotamian mythology) is a genus of large oviraptorosaurian dinosaurs from the late Cretaceous (66 million years ago) of North Dakota and South Dakota, US. The type species is Anzu wyliei.
In 2015, the International Institute for Species Exploration names it as one of the "Top 10 New Species" for new species discovered in 2014.
Anzu wyliei is characterized by a toothless beak, a prominent crest, long arms ending in slender, relatively straight claws, long powerful legs with slender toes, and a relatively short tail. Anzu measured about 3 metres (9.8 ft) to 3.5 metres (11 ft) long, up to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) tall at the hips and 200 kilograms (440 lb) to 300 kilograms (660 lb) in weight, and was the largest North American oviraptorosaur, though the Mongolian genus Gigantoraptor was larger than Anzu.
When the type specimen of Anzu was described, several autapomorphies (derived traits unique to a genus) were established. There is a high crescent-like crest on the skull, formed by the upper branches of the praemaxillae. The occipital condyle is wider than the foramen magnum. The front part of the lower jaw, which is fused with its counterpart, has a prominent flange on its outer side. The retroarticular process, a prominent projection at the rear of the lower jaw, is elongated, about as long as the jaw joint surface. The lower end of the radius is divided into two rounded processes. The first phalanx of the second finger has a trough along the lower edge of its inner side. The front side of the astragalus has a tubercle at the base of its ascending process.
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