Genus of iguanodontian dinosaurs
This article is about the dinosaur. For the region on
Mars , see
Iani Chaos .
Iani (after Ianus ) is an extinct genus of rhabdodontomorph iguanodontian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah , United States. The genus contains a single species , I. smithi , known from a partial skeleton including the skull. Its discovery serves as a link between the genus Tenontosaurus and the Rhabdodontidae , with both along with Iani being members of the clade Rhabdodontomorpha .[ 1]
Discovery and naming
The Iani holotype specimen, NCSM 29373, was discovered in 2014 in sediments of the Cedar Mountain Formation (lower Mussentuchit Member) in Emery County , Utah , United States. The specimen consists of a partial skeleton including a nearly complete, disarticulated skull, cervical , dorsal , sacral , and caudal vertebrae , ribs and haemal arches , partial pectoral and pelvic girdles , and the right arm and leg.[ 1]
In 2023, Zanno et al . described Iani smithi as a new genus and species of rhabdodontomorph iguanodontian based on these fossil remains. The generic name , "Iani ", alludes to Ianus , the Roman god of transitions, referencing the changing biota of the time. The specific name , "smithi ", honors Joshua Aaron Smith and his paleontological contributions.[ 1]
Classification
Life reconstruction of Iani
Zanno et al . (2023) recovered Iani as a basal rhabdodontomorph member of the Iguanodontia . They interpreted it as a transitional taxon between Tenontosaurus and other Late Cretaceous rhabdodontomorphs (the Rhabdodontidae ). The cladograms below display the results of their phylogenetic analyses using different datasets:[ 1]
Topology 1: Poole (2022) dataset[ 2]
Topology 2: Dieudonné et al. (2021) dataset[ 3]
References