A tyrannosauroid from the Upper Cretaceous in Tianzhen, Shanxi Province, China and its burial environment

Tianzhen is located in the north of Shanxi Province. Since the middle of the Early Cretaceous, the paleogeographic landscape in this area changed frequently and the climate became more and more arid. Continuously discovered fossil materials indicate that ankylosaurs, hadrosaurs and sauropods once existed in this area during the Cretaceous. In this article we report a newly discovered tyrannosauroid-Jinbeisaurus wangi, and analyse its burial environment. Analysis shows that Jinbeisaurus is a mid-grade tyrannosauroid and derived than Xiongguanlong, which also belongs to a mid-grade tyrannosauroid. Discovery of Jinbeisaurus indicates a dinosaur fauna composed of ankylosaurs, hadrosaurs, sauropods and theropods in Tianzhen area during the Late Cretaceous, and its age may be between the Coniacian and the Campanian.Burial environment analysis reveals that Jinbeisaurus lived in shore lake before its death, and was buried in shallow lacustrine environment after a short distance transport. © 2022 Geological Society of China. All rights reserved.