Iani

Say it: eye-AN-ee

Name means: “named after Janus, the Roman god of change”1

Ate: PlantsBeaked plant-eatersLate Cretaceous

Iani was a plant-eating dinosaur that lived about 99 million years ago in what is now Utah. It had a powerful jaw with teeth perfect for chewing tough plants, and it might have been one of the last of its kind before duckbill dinosaurs took over.1

Lived

100 to 94 million years ago5

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Utah, USA (Cedar Mountain Formation)5 1

Food

Plants1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Iani is named after Janus, the Roman god of change, because it lived during a time when Earth's climate was warming and dinosaur populations were shifting.1

The only known skeleton of Iani is from a juvenile and includes a nearly complete skull, vertebrae, and parts of the arms and legs.1

Iani belongs to a group of dinosaurs called rhabdodontomorphs, which were mostly known from Europe before this discovery.1

During Iani's time, giant sauropods were disappearing from North America, and new dinosaurs like early duckbills and tyrannosaurs were arriving from Asia.1

Scientists think Iani might have been one of the last survivors of a dinosaur lineage that was eventually replaced by duckbill dinosaurs.1

The fossil of Iani was discovered in 2014 in the Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah, and it was named in 2023.2 1

AI-made picture of Iani — An AI-made picture of how Iani might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Iani

?How big was Iani?

Iani was about 3 metres (10 feet) long, about the size of a small car. It was a plant-eater that stood on two legs.3

?What did Iani eat?

Iani was a vegetarian. It had a powerful jaw and teeth with many ridges to chew through tough plant material.3 4

?When did Iani live?

Iani lived about 99 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now Utah, USA.2 4

?Is Iani a dinosaur?

Yes, Iani is a dinosaur. It is a type of ornithopod, which is a group of plant-eating dinosaurs that walked on two legs.2 4

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Iani
Named by: Zanno et al. 20235
Group: Beaked plant-eaters
Family / clade: Tenontosauridae5
Classification: Ornithischia > Ornithopoda > Iguanodontia5
Age of the rocks: 100 to 94 million years (Cenomanian)5
Rock formations: Cedar Mountain5
Countries: USA5
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: The only known specimen of Iani was discovered in 2014 in Utah's Cedar Mountain Formation. It was named Iani smithi in 2023 by Lindsay Zanno and her team, with the species name honoring paleontologist Joshua Aaron Smith.2 1
Still debated: Scientists are still debating whether Iani is a rhabdodontomorph, a group of dinosaurs mostly found in Europe, which would mean this lineage survived longer in North America than previously thought.1

Where the facts come from

New Dino, ‘Iani,’ Was Face of a Changing Planet | NC State News (news.ncsu.edu)
Iani (en.wikipedia.org)
Dinosaurs: New vegetarian dinosaur discovered in Utah - BBC Newsround (bbc.co.uk)
An early-diverging iguanodontian (Dinosauria: Rhabdodontomorpha) from the Late Cretaceous of North America | PLOS One (journals.plos.org)
Iani 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.

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