Timurlengia

Phylogeny: Dinosauria > Saurischia > Theropoda > Neotheropoda > Tetanurae > Avetheropoda > Coelurosauria > Tyrannosauroidea > Pantyrannosauria

Overview: Timurlengia is a genus that is unfortunately based on only limited fossil remains. All of its referred fossils come from the sediments of the Bissekty Formation, in what is now the Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan. The first specimen, consisting of a braincase, was recovered during the 1940’s, when Uzbekistan was a part of the Soviet Union. It wasn’t formally described or referred to a specific genus until 2016, however. Timurlengia was named after the fourteenth century warlord and conqueror Timur (also known as Timurleng or Tamerlane). Timur subjugated most of Central Asia prior to his death, but was originally born in Uzbekistan. When it was described, Timurlengia was also referred to the superfamily Tyrannosauroidea. The braincase, as well as other potential remains belonging to the genus, had a number of traits strongly implying such a classification. The additional fossils included parts of the skull, pieces of jaw bone, and some vertebrae. It’s possible that some of these fossils may not actually belong to Timurlengia, but only time will tell.

Studies of the Bissekty Formation suggest Timurlengia would’ve lived around ninety-two to ninety million years ago. This was about ten million years before the Tyrannosauridae emerged, so it was a fair bit more “primitive” than the infamous Tyrannosaurus itself. It was a pantyrannosaur, usually classified just outside the Eutyrannosauria, so it was also more basal than Dryptosaurus, but more derived than tyrannosauroids like Guanlong or Stokesosaurus. Since much of its skeleton remains a mystery, we have to infer what it would’ve looked like based on this classification. Timurlengia was a medium-sized theropod at best, being about four meters long, though it was more robustly built than earlier tyrannosaurs. It may’ve retained a third digit on its hands, but we can’t be sure. Studies of its braincase suggest it had a very keen sense of hearing, especially in lower frequencies. This is referenced by the name of the type species, Timurlengia euotica, meaning “well-eared”. It mainly hunted small or mid-sized herbivores, still living in the shadow of larger allosauroid predators.