View source for Tanius

{{Short description|Extinct genus of dinosaurs}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = [[Late Cretaceous]], {{fossil range|72|71}}
| image = Tanius.jpg
| image_caption = Restoration of ''T. sinensis''
| taxon = Tanius
| authority = [[Carl Wiman|Wiman]], [[1929 in paleontology|1929]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision_ref = <ref name=Zea17/>
| subdivision = * ''T. sinensis'' <small>Wiman, 1929 ([[type species|type]])</small>
* ''T. chingkankouensis'' <small>[[Yang Zhongjian|Young]], [[1958 in paleontology|1958]] (''[[nomen dubium]]'')</small>
}}
'''''Tanius''''' (meaning "of Tan") is a [[genus]] of [[hadrosauroid]] [[dinosaur]]. It lived in the Late [[Cretaceous]] of [[China]]. The [[type species]], named and described in 1929 by [[Carl Wiman]], is ''Tanius sinensis''. The generic name honours the Chinese paleontologist [[Tan Xichou]] ("H.C. Tan"). The [[specific name (zoology)|specific epithet]] refers to China.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Wiman | first1 = C | year = 1929 | title = Die Kreide-Dinosaurier aus Shantung | journal = Palaeontologia Sinica | volume = 6 | issue = 1| pages = 1–67 }}</ref> In 2010 [[Gregory S. Paul]] estimated the length of ''Tanius'' at {{convert|7|m|ft}} and its weight at {{convert|2|MT|ST}}.<ref>Paul, G.S., 2010, ''The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs'', p. 296</ref>
==Discovery and species==
In April 1923, H. C. T'an discovered the remains in the east of [[Shandong]] at the village of Ch'ing-kang-kou, ten kilometres southeast of [[Lai Yang]]. In October of the same year they were excavated by Tan's associate, the Austrian paleontologist [[Otto Zdansky]]. Although the specimen was originally rather complete, only parts could be salvaged. The [[holotype]], '''PMU R.240''', was recovered from the [[Jiangjunding Formation]] of the [[Wangshi Series]] dating from the [[Campanian]]. It consists of the back of the skull, which was flat and elongated.
Other species originally assigned to ''Tanius'' have been moved to other genera. These include: ''Tanius prynadai'' named in 1939 by [[Anatoly Nikolaevich Ryabinin]],<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Riabinin | first1 = A.N. | year = 1939 | title = "[in Russian] "The Upper Cretaceous vertebrate fauna of South Kazakhstan, Reptilia; Part 1, the Ornithischia | journal = Transactions of the Central Geological and Prospecting Institute | volume = 118 | pages = 1–38 }}</ref> which was assigned to ''[[Bactrosaurus]]''; and ''Tanius chingkankouensis'' named in 1958 by [[Yang Zhongjian]],<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Young | first1 = C.C. | year = 1958 | title = The dinosaurian remains of Laiyang, Shantung | journal = Palaeontologica Sinica | volume = 16 | pages = 53–138 }}</ref> and ''[["Tanius" laiyangensis|Tanius laiyangensis]]'' named in 1976 by [[Zhen Shuonan]],<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Zhen | first1 = S. | year = 1976 | title = A new species of hadrosaur from Shandong | journal = Vertebrata PalAsiatica | volume = 14 | issue = 3| pages = 166–169 |url=http://www.ivpp.cas.cn/cbw/gjzdwxb/xbwzxz/200905/W020090813376964452885.pdf|language=zh-cn}}</ref> which were both later considered [[junior subjective synonym]]s of ''[[Tsintaosaurus]]''.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Buffetaut | first1 = E. | last2 = Tong-Buffetaut | first2 = H. | year = 1993 | title = ''Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus'' YOUNG and ''Tanius sinensis'' WIMAN: a preliminary comparative study of two hadrosaurs (Dinosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous of China | journal = Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Série II | volume = 317 | pages = 1255–1261 }}</ref> However, a more recent study, Zhang ''et al.'' (2017) determined that ''T. sinensis'' and ''T. chingkankouensis'' were valid species of ''Tanius'', and that ''T. laiyangensis'' was probably not valid.<ref name=Zea17>{{cite journal|last1=Zhang|first1=J.L.|last2=Wang|first2=Q|last3=Jiang|first3=S.X.|last4=Cheng|first4=X.|last5=Li|first5=N.|last6=Qiu|first6=R.|last7=Zhang|first7=X.J.|last8=Wang|first8=X.L.|year=2017|title=Review of historical and current research on the Late Cretaceous dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs from Laiyang, Shandong|url=http://www.ivpp.cas.cn/cbw/gjzdwxb/xbwzxz/201704/P020170427376412235491.pdf|journal=Vertebrata PalAsiatica|volume=55|issue=2|pages=187–200}}</ref> Zhang et al. (2019) re-assessed ''"Tanius" laiyangensis'' as a member of the saurolophine clade Kritosaurini, the first of the clade from Asia.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Zhang | first1 = Yu-Guang | last2 = Wang | first2 = Ke-Bai | last3 = Chen | first3 = Shu-Qing | last4 = Di | first4 = Liu | last5 = Xing | first5 = Hai | year = 2019 | title = Osteological re-assessment and taxonomic revision of "Tanius laiyangensis" (Ornithischia: Hadrosauroidea) from the Upper Cretaceous of Shandong, China" | journal = The Anatomical Record | volume = 303 | issue = 4 | pages = 790–800 | doi = 10.1002/AR.24097 | pmid = 30773831 | doi-access = free }}</ref>
==Paleoecology==
The type species ''Tanius sinensis'' was found in the [[Jiangjunding Formation]] of the Chinese [[Wangshi Group]].<ref name=Zea17/> The Jiangjunding formation consists purpley-grey or reddy-brown sandstones or various consistencies, siltstones and conglomerates. The Wangshi group of [[geologic formations]] is generally considered to be from the [[Late Cretaceous]], although some regions are older. Based on the discovery of ''[[Pinacosaurus]]'', only known elsewhere in the [[Djadokhta Formation]] or regions of the same age, the Wangshi Group was presumed to be a similar age of 75-71 million years old. The specific age for the [[Wangshi Group|Hongtuya Formation]] has been identified as 73.5-72.9 mya. As the Hongtuya is directly older than the Jiangjunding, it was identified that ''Tanius sinensis'' lived in the latest [[Campanian]] to earliest [[Maastrichtian]] by Borinder in 2015.<ref name=B15>{{cite journal|last=Borinder|first=N.H.|year=2015|title=Postcranial Anatomy of ''Tanius Sinensis'' Wiman, 1929 (Dinosauria; Hadrosauroidea)|journal=Examensarbete vid Institutionen för geovetenskaper|publisher=Upsala University|issn=1650-6553|url=http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:821581/FULLTEXT01.pdf}}</ref>
The Jiangjunding Formation was deposited in a fluvial to lacustrine environment. The climate was warm and humid during the majority of the timespan, although it was beginning to dry out after the Jiangjunding. Taxa that lived alongside ''Tanius'' in the formation include the [[ankylosaur]] ''[[Pinacosaurus|Pinacosaurus cf. grangeri]]''; possibly the [[cerapoda]]n ''[[Micropachycephalosaurus]]''; intermediate [[sauropods]]; intermediate [[coelurosaurs]]; and intermediate [[cheloniidae|cheloniids]] which show similarities to [[Nanhsiungchelyidae]]. Multiple localities of dinosaur eggs have also been identified.<ref name=B15/>
Both ''T. chingkankouensis'' and ''T. laiyangensis'' were discovered in the [[Jingangkou Formation]], which is directly above the Jiangjunding. This formation has been the site of massive excavations of hadrosaurs in both the 1950s and the 2010s. A majority of the strata is green-grey mudstone, where the bones excavated are coloured black. The sediment in the location of the hadrosaur excavations was deposited by a mudflow event, where the carcasses were trapped and moved a short distance before rapid burial. At least 20 individuals of hadrosaurs have been uncovered, of various ages. Hadrosaurs from these localities include ''Tanius'', ''Tsintaosaurus'', ''[[Laiyangosaurus]]'' and ''[[Shantungosaurus]]''. Other taxa uncovered include the [[theropods]] ''[[Chingkankousaurus]]'' and ''[[Szechuanosaurus|cf. Szechuanosaurus campi]]'', and the [[testudine]] ''[[Glyptops]]''.<ref name=Zea17/>
==See also==
* [[Timeline of hadrosaur research]]
==References==
{{Commons category|Tanius}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Portal bar|Dinosaurs|China}}
{{Ornithopoda|H.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q135643}}
[[Category:Late Cretaceous dinosaurs of Asia]]
[[Category:Hadrosaurs]]
[[Category:Fossil taxa described in 1929]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Wiman]]
[[Category:Ornithischian genera]]