Dino card No. 0179 of 2,015

Asiamericana

Say it: AY-zhee-ah-MER-ih-KAH-nah

Name means: “Asia America”1

Ate: MeatRaptorsLate Jurassic to Late Cretaceous

Asiamericana was a small, fast meat-eating dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period. Scientists know it only from a few teeth found in Uzbekistan, so much about it remains a mystery.1 2

Lived

155 to 66 million years ago3

Late Jurassic to Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Uzbekistan1 2

Food

Meat2

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Asiamericana is known only from a few teeth found in the Bissekty Formation of Uzbekistan.1

The name Asiamericana means 'Asia America' and was chosen because similar teeth have been found in both Central Asia and North America, which were connected during the Cretaceous.1

The teeth of Asiamericana are straight, have no constriction at the base, and lack serrations (the tiny saw-like edges found on many meat-eater teeth).1

Some scientists think Asiamericana might be the same animal as another dinosaur named Richardoestesia, based on similar teeth.2

The teeth were found during a big international expedition called URBAC (Uzbek-Russian-British-American-Canadian) between 1974 and 1985.1

Asiamericana lived in a ground-dwelling habitat and its teeth suggest it was a carnivore.2

For dino experts

Scientific name: Asiamericana
Named by: Nessov 19953
Group: Raptors
Family / clade: Dromaeosauridae3
Classification: Theropoda > Dromaeosauridae3
Age of the rocks: 155 to 66 million years (Kimmeridgian to Maastrichtian)3
Rock formations: Bissekty3
Countries: Uzbekistan3
Fossil records: 239 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Asiamericana was named by Russian paleontologist Lev Nessov in 1995, based on teeth he discovered during expeditions to Uzbekistan between 1974 and 1985.1
Still debated: Scientists are unsure whether Asiamericana is a valid dinosaur or whether its teeth belong to a different dinosaur, such as Richardoestesia or even a fish or spinosaur.1 2

Where the facts come from

Asiamericana (en.wikipedia.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Asiamericana in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.