Asiamericana is a type of dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period, around 90 million years ago.
This dinosaur is special because it is known only from a few teeth that were discovered in Uzbekistan. The name Asiamericana was chosen because these teeth resemble those found in both Central Asia and North America. This is interesting because, at the time, these areas were connected landmasses.
The discovery of Asiamericana happened during an expedition between 1974 and 1985, which involved researchers from many countries. The main scientist involved was Lev Alexandrovich Nessov. The teeth were first described in detail in 1985, and a specific species called A. asiatica was named in 1995.
The teeth of Asiamericana are straight and do not have any serrations, which means they are smooth and have no sharp edges.
When the teeth were first found, scientists were not sure what type of animal they belonged to. They thought they could be from a kind of ancient fish or a different group of dinosaurs called spinosaurids. However, they later decided that these teeth definitely belonged to a group called theropods, which are known for being meat-eating dinosaurs.
In 2013, another study suggested that the teeth were very similar to those of another dinosaur called Richardoestesia. This led to some researchers renaming the species as Richardoestesia asiatica. This idea was confirmed again in 2019.
Even though we only have a few teeth, Asiamericana helps scientists learn more about dinosaurs and their connections across continents during the Cretaceous period.