At last, a giant feathered tyrannosauroid!

Adam Khor · 04-04-2012 08:07PM #1

We all knew this was coming but I personally never thought it would be so soon!

Meet Yutyrannus, a new tyrannosauroid from China measuring up to 9 meters long and the largest feathered dinosaur known to date! Not only is it an incredible creature but also a huge blow to the idea that giant theropods probably lost their feathers due to them not needing insulation. Although that being said, Yutyrannus did live in a rather cold climate. Not necessarily proof of T-Rex being feathered, but it certainly makes it a lot more likely.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2012/04/04/yutyrannus-a-giant-tyrannosaur-with-feathers/#more-6682

Adam Khor · 05-04-2012 01:21AM

No comments on this yet, and I thought it was the finding of the month! XD

slade_x · 05-04-2012 03:33AM

Just saw this on google news

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17612354

The dinosaur, whose name translates as "beautiful feathered tyrant", shares some features with later tyrannosaurs like T.rex, but has three functional fingers (where T. rex had two) and a foot typical of other early tyrannosaur relatives.

The discovermagazine link didnt mention anything about finger count though. still more info than the first article i read on the subject. But yes big news

T.Rex has been on a bit of a rollercoaster ride. hollywood cementing the idea it was the perfect killer, then later assumptions revealing it may have been nothing more than a capable scavenger, then recently revealing ct scans of its skulls brain cavity indicating it was a more capable predator than previously thought (capable of detecting infrasound and better vision etc.). Now theres a chance it may have been feathery :eek: Full of surprises

Kess73 · 05-04-2012 10:55AM

Adam Khor wrote: »

No comments on this yet, and I thought it was the finding of the month! XD

No comments = denial.

Mickeroo · 05-04-2012 12:06PM

Sorry Adam, you must understand putting feathers on T-Rex is destroying my child hood. As Kess said, I'm very much in denial here. :P

Adam Khor · 05-04-2012 09:32PM

Haha ok ok I understand...:pac:

Rubecula · 06-04-2012 06:47PM

I can't think of anything constructive to say really.

Here chicky chicky.

Polly wants his seed (or he'll bite yer head off)

Sorry. I'll go and hide in a darkened corner.

Adam Khor · 06-04-2012 08:01PM

Ok, seems that Yutyrannus is already controversial. Some dude claims that it looks more like a carcharodontosaur-type animal than a tyrannosauroid- specifically, that it's similar to Concavenator.
Others say that it's like a blend of tyrannosauroid and carcharodontosaur traits (hinting at possible common ancestor, maybe? if so it would re-write theropod classification).

I personally think it looks quite a bit like Guanlong, and it wouldn´t surprise me if it was its direct descendant but, what do I know? Im no expert. I just... look at pics.

Yutyrannus:

Guanlong:

Galvasean · 07-04-2012 07:40PM

Adam Khor wrote: »

No comments on this yet, and I thought it was the finding of the month! XD

I was internetless for a week, but wow! This is awesome news.
The fossil skull looks very 'tyrannosaury' to me, but the drawings look quite 'carcharodontosauridy'. I'll have to read up on this more.

Allosaur · 10-04-2012 03:23PM

Don't know about yours. But my T. rex has not got feathers.

Rubecula · 11-04-2012 02:44PM

Allosaur wrote: »

Don't know about yours. But my T. rex has not got feathers.

:pac:

Mine has coats made from the skins of just about everything else. (Those dainty "little" hands were good at needlework you know.

Well it makes sense to me :pac:

At last, a giant feathered tyrannosauroid!

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