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The Tyrannosaur Thread- Anything T. rex or tyrannosaurid related

2

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭Galvasean


    Naming aside, I am glad to see the book being finally thrown at fossil poachers. For too long they have been getting off lightly.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor




  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,190 ✭✭✭Squeaky the Squirrel


    Bones of Contention

    Long Long read, only a bit of the way down but it's interesting. It's about an auction house trying to sell a 75% complete Tarbosaurus bataar. T. bataar (cousin of the T-Rex) that may or may not have been illegally taken out of Mongolia.

    Breaks off into a bit of a history lesson about Fossil Hunting and how Jurassic Park and the sale of a T Rex for $8.4mil put the industry in the spot light.

    I'm only as far as the big P :P


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Thanks Squeaky


    I've merged your thread and another about the same case into this one.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    This seems like the last chapter to the Tarbosaurus skeleton saga. The dino goes back to Mongolia, and Prokopi probably goes to jail. For 10 years. :eek:

    http://news.yahoo.com/tyrannosaurus-center-custody-case-going-home-mongolia-002349241--mma.html


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭Galvasean


    Glad the skeleton is gone back to Mongolia. At least ten years in jail seems a tad excessive though.


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 92,472 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Galvasean wrote: »
    Glad the skeleton is gone back to Mongolia. At least ten years in jail seems a tad excessive though.

    Not really when you consider what he did and where he did it.
    Authorities accused Prokopi of having lied on U.S. customs forms when he declared the fossilized bones were worth $19,000.
    Tax avoidance is big business in the US, (Facebook turned a couple of billion profit into a tax-rebate) but you're royally screwed if found guilty of tax evasion. It's not a secret of what the IRS did to Al Capone.

    Even here lying on a customs form can mean serious jail time.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    I thought the ten years were for fossil smuggling, which did seem excessive...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Known from very good remains.

    Article is in Chinese, tho :(

    http://www.uua.cn/news/show-14751-1.html

    20130201100453159.jpg

    20130201100550806.jpg

    20130201100652756.jpg


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭Galvasean


    Looks like a good specimen. I look forward to hearing more about it.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,190 ✭✭✭Squeaky the Squirrel




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Lythronax, new "king of gore" tyrannosaur

    Expect many excessively bloody illustrations of this critter during the following months. It was not very big, but had a short wide snout and big teeth much like Tyrannosaurus rex despite being the oldest tyrannosaurid known.

    http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/nov/06/lythronax-argestes-tyrannosaurs

    a233eb08-87a5-41a9-86c3-6637feeef8f4-460x276.jpeg

    f0d864ca-4592-41ac-a9af-3940b2474735-460x339.jpeg


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,733 Mod ✭✭✭✭Manach


    Excellent article, for a second misread it and though it was name lynx-thronx - corporate sponsorship a step too far :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭Galvasean


    Is that the smallest tyrannosaurid known?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    No, both Teratophoneus and Alioramus are smaller... but then again I think they're both known from juvenile individuals only...:eek:


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    At last, a tyrannosaur trackway- may be from Albertosaurus, Gorgosaurus or Daspletosaurus- shows these theropods did travel (hunt?) in small groups at least part of the time. In this case, three tyrannosaurs aged 20 to 30 were walking side by side, although keeping a respectful distance from each other.

    http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi/10.1371/journal.pone.0103613

    http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jul/23/tyrannosaurs-hunted-packs-tracks-canada

    wankels-t-rex2.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,560 ✭✭✭✭Kess73


    Cannot be the only one that thought of Phil Currie straight away?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Still no evidence of pack hunting with adults and juveniles working together, tho :(

    IMAG0009.JPG


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭Galvasean


    Kess73 wrote: »
    Cannot be the only one that thought of Phil Currie straight away?

    I'd say he blew a gasket when he heard about it! :D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Nothing unexpected but very interesting all the same. Daspletosaurus joins Tyrannosaurus and Gorgosaurus/Albertosaurus as a known tyrannosaur cannibal.

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/giant-cannibalistic-dinosaurs-engaged-in-ritualistic-fighting-10166911.html

    _82207463_skull.png


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 218 ✭✭Linnaeus


    I maintain that violent death among dinosaurs was often provoked by members of their same species, in their rivalry over mates, food or territory. However, it seems far less likely that dinos of the same kind would have systematically hunted each other. As for cannibalism, this occurs even today among certain species, but usually after an individual dies a natural death or is killed by a predator which is not a member of the same species. I wonder if, in the case of a battle between two Daspletosaurs, the victor would have devoured his victim. There were probably ferocious fights between these beasts, but I think that most of the Daspletosaurs that got devoured were probably just scavenged upon. Well, if it was another Daspletosaur that did the scavenging, then this was cannibalism just the same.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,551 ✭✭✭Rubecula


    many species still practice cannibalism. No need to expect dino behaviour to be any different.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Large theropod teeth suggest previously unknown form of large theropod coexisted with tyrannosaurids in Asia during the late Cretaceous.

    http://phys.org/news/2015-05-large-theropod-teeth-upper-cretaceous.html

    1-largetheropo.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 218 ✭✭Linnaeus


    China never fails to astound us, due to the vast number of significant palaeontological discoveries made there every year. Dr Xu Xing is China's foremost palaeontologist. He and his team have unearthed hundreds of new species in the last 15 years. Dr Xu is an expert on avian evolution. He has conducted profound studies on recently discovered "paravian" theropods such as the controversial Aurornis.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    This very interesting paper suggests albertosaurines such as Albertosaurus and Gorgosaurus (which may conceivably be one single genus) had a system akin to a lateral line that allowed them to better detect wind direction and align according to it during the hunt. 

    http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0187064

    731px-Drumheller_Albertosaurus_150.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    TIL Albertosaurus was named the same year Alberta became a province.

    https://royaltyrrellmuseum.wordpress.com/2018/08/12/the-discovery-of-canadas-first-known-meat-eating-dinosaur/

    Today we have many more remains and know far more about Albertosaurus. It could grow up to 9, maybe 10 meters long, had a bite force comparable to that of a great white shark, and was the dominant predator in North America from 71 to 68 million years ago. It apparently went extinct at about the same time as Tyrannosaurus rex appeared in North America.

    albertosaurus_sarcophagus_by_hodarinundu-d4ki13c.jpg

    albertosaurus-gorgosaurus_libratus.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Dynamoterror, a new tyrannosaurid.

    The name is an homage to "Dynamosaurus imperiosus", which is what T. rex was almost called at one point.

    https://gizmodo.com/rare-t-rex-relative-discovered-in-new-mexico-1829629491?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_twitter&utm_source=gizmodo_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

    jrmj0dwzabyer3temmkq.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,551 ✭✭✭Rubecula


    interesting I wonder how they may have evolved if they had survived? so many of them.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    There's between 12 and 15 tyrannosaurid genera currently described, and they span a considerably time period (from around 80 to 66 million years), yet their basic body plan changes practically nothing in all that time. So you have the oldest tyrannosaurid known from good remains, Lythronax:

    lythronax-argestes-dinosaur.jpg?w968h681

    looking almost exactly as the latest tyrannosaurids such as Tarbosaurus and Tyrannosaurus:

    tarbosaur_skeletons.jpg

    I think this is a case of "if it's not broken don´t fix it". Tyrannosaurids were perfectly adapted to what they were doing, so maybe if they hadn´t gone extinct at the end of the Cretaceous, and as long as there were large prey to sustain them, chances are they would have remained pretty much the same for a very long time, like crocodiles, perhaps with outliers here and then adapted to alternate prey (fish-eating tyrannosaur?) or environment (island dwelling, mini-tyrannosaurs?)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,551 ✭✭✭Rubecula


    Adam Khor wrote: »
    There's between 12 and 15 tyrannosaurid genera currently described, and they span a considerably time period (from around 80 to 66 million years), yet their basic body plan changes practically nothing in all that time. So you have the oldest tyrannosaurid known from good remains, Lythronax:

    lythronax-argestes-dinosaur.jpg?w968h681

    looking almost exactly as the latest tyrannosaurids such as Tarbosaurus and Tyrannosaurus:

    tarbosaur_skeletons.jpg

    I think this is a case of "if it's not broken don´t fix it". Tyrannosaurids were perfectly adapted to what they were doing, so maybe if they hadn´t gone extinct at the end of the Cretaceous, and as long as there were large prey to sustain them, chances are they would have remained pretty much the same for a very long time, like crocodiles, perhaps with outliers here and then adapted to alternate prey (fish-eating tyrannosaur?) or environment (island dwelling, mini-tyrannosaurs?)

    you mirror my own ideas Adam. so perhaps we are not too far from the truth.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    More remains from mysterious eastern North American tyrannosauroids

    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329687124_LARGE_BASAL_TYRANNOSAUROIDS_FROM_THE_MAASTRICHTIAN_AND_TERRESTRIAL_VERTEBRATE_DIVERSITY_IN_THE_SHADOW_OF_THE_K-PG_EXTINCTION

    The find is interesting because usually, tyrannosaurids such as T. rex are believed to have been the very last group of giant theropods to roam North America. However, these limb remains from 9+ meter theropods support the idea that eastern North America had a different fauna from the west, and that the top predator niche was filled by a different linneage of tyrannosauroids, probably more similar to Dryptosaurus:

    Dryptos2.jpg

    (Dryptosaurus having inspired this very famous Charles Knight painting popularly known as the Leaping Lizards, back when the animal was known as Laelaps):

    Dryptosaurus%2Bsaltando.jpg

    Sadly no good skeletons of Dryptosaurus and kin have been found yet, but they are believed to have been less derived than tyrannosaurids proper, and seem to have had longer, more powerful arms. Sometimes they have been reconstructed with three clawed fingers on each hand:

    photos.medleyphoto.2228493.jpg

    Or with two but proportionally much larger than in tyrannosaurids:

    Drypto+at+Dunn+1.jpg?format=1500w

    More remains needed as usual.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Small tyrannosauroid named after Greek god of impending doom

    This is an interesting find, as it shows what tyrannosauroids looked like and what niche they occupied 96 million years ago, a time in which North America was still ruled by allosaur-type creatures.

    The new tyrannosauroid is called Moros intrepidus, was about 3.5 m long and would've been a fast running predator of small animals, thus avoiding competition with the likes of the contemporary Siats (the dominant predator at the time as far as we know).

    https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/02/new-tiny-t-rex-relative-moros-fills-north-american-fossil-gap/

    moros-intrepidus_560x280.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 78,490 ✭✭✭✭Victor




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    A new study suggests the Canadian T. rex known as "RSM P2523.8" (a.k.a. "Scotty") exceeds even the famous Sue/FMNH PR2081 (until now considered the largest T. rex specimen known from decent remains) in weight, estimated at almost 9 tons.

    The body mass of RSM P2523.8 is
    thus estimated to be ~8,870 kgs (+/- 25%).

    It would thus be the heaviest T. rex on record, but not necessarily the longest or tallest:

    notably
    exceeds all T. rex specimens that have been previously categorized as robust (Larson, 2008b).
    However, in many length measurements (proximodistal femoral, tibial and jaw length) RSM
    P2523.8 is exceeded by some individuals previously categorized as gracile (Larson, 2008b).
    Whether or not a robust/gracile dichotomy exists among T. rex, these comparisons indicate that
    RSM P2523.8 was a large and robustly-proportioned individual, but likely with a shorter total
    hip-height and snout-vent length than other known specimens showing more elongate
    proportions

    https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/...6lrXXD1-pKQdk&

    This would make "RSM P2523.8/ "Scotty" heavier than any other giant theropod for which there's reliable estimates, although the study does accept that there's a much more fragmentary record for the likes of Giganotosaurus, Tyrannotitan and Spinosaurus, and new finds may show these grew just as large if not larger.

    Although RSM P2523.8 has an estimated weight more than 40% greater than the next
    largest known theropod taxon, specimens of several other theropod species (including
    Giganotosaurus carolinii and Tyrannotitan chubutensis) have femoral proportions indicative of
    body masses greater than those of most other adult T. rex specimens. As
    such, it is likely that further sampling of these other giant theropods, all of which are represented
    by fewer specimens than T. rex, may yield larger individuals that match or surpass the size of
    RSM P2523.8. In the case of Giganotosaurus carolinii, a sing dentary is known that does hint at
    a greater maximum size (Calvo, 2000).

    Scotty_Tim_Eric3.jpg?fbclid=IwAR2g0Cb72gcZsvub2fqU1sh6pdgHLYxPdMVr2PJ0tBTuUjtBUJaaw5OJjrU


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Possible tyrannosauroid tooth found in Japan

    https://www.sankei.com/life/photos/190419/lif1904190032-p3.html

    lif1904190032-p3.jpg

    20190419-00000539-san-000-2-view.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    T. rex specimen for sale on eBay, and paleontologists of course are less than happy:

    https://www.livescience.com/65296-baby-t-rex-ebay-auction.html

    Although listed as a "baby T. rex", in reality it would have been 4 years old or so at the moment of death, and around 4.5 m long, so hardly a baby anymore; still, juvenile T. rex specimens are extremely rare. Hatchlings, as far as I know, have never been discovered, and neither have nests or eggs, meaning practically everything about T. rex' early life is unknown.

    Here's a reconstruction of this particular specimen, nicknamed "Baby Bob" and "Son of Samson" (Samson being another T. rex that was also auctioned):

    post-10935-0-35517400-1455312442.jpg

    And here's the actual fossil:

    DT8p3JxXUAALkDR.jpg


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Small, potential ancestor to T. rex found in New Mexico, named Suskityrannus or "coyote-like tyrant".

    https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/suskityrannus-hazelae/

    img_evelasco_20190506-160519_imagenes_lv_terceros_suskityrannus_hazelae_trees-kpSC-U4620721585050KD-992x558@LaVanguardia-Web.jpg

    At only one meter tall at the hips it was only a fraction of T. rex's size but is very similar, proportion-size, to juvenile T. rex.

    Here's the fragments of Suskityrannus' skeleton compared to T. rex's jaw:

    IMG_3511.width-800.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Scotty's 66 million year journey to the Royal Saskatchewan Museum:

    https://www.cjme.com/2019/04/15/scottys-66-million-year-journey-to-the-royal-sask-museum/?fbclid=IwAR3jK7ITYYEwz229qWF7f6hTUvkhrS5Dp7TKRZo3Alyfc7PQIjsrvJ18JTQ#.XNnKGzDiVgs.facebook
    The 30 years that Scotty lived were a rough three decades, maybe just as violent as in the movies. Similar to how some of today’s animals compete within species for mates or property, T. rexes used to fight each other too.

    Visitors will be able to get a closeup look at, and in some cases touch, some of the injuries that tell the story of Scotty’s life.

    “These include things like big, open wounds on the face that have pierced all the way through to sinus cavities in the skull, holes in the jaw that are probably related to other tyrannosaurs biting the face, (and) a big wound in the tail that may have been a long-term deformity within the tail vertebrae that may have affected how it moved,” said McKellar.

    Scotty-injuries.jpeg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Nearly complete T. rex specimen MOR555 (known as the Wankel T. rex or Nation's T. rex) debuts at the Smithsonian museum.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/after-66-million-years-a-t-rex-makes-its-grand-debut/2019/05/31/b64d56e4-c62f-4265-8be1-ca1c04d84856_video.html?fbclid=IwAR3z-AZPknn3coPM3ZBfHcoZiZaxyFN7Sajwlc3InmF9f-0VS2eq8GYfWkU&noredirect=on&p9w22b2p=b2p22p9w00098&utm_term=.60791fddc4be

    xYs2mXi.jpg


    This specimen was 18 years old when it died (having just reached adulthood), and was 11.6 m long. It is known for being the first T. rex specimen for which a complete arm was known.


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 92,472 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Adam Khor wrote: »
    It is known for being the first T. rex specimen for which a complete arm was known.
    So the others were mostly 'armless ? :pac:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    [/INDENT]
    So the others were mostly 'armless ? :pac:

    :D:D:D


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    "Family group" find suggests tyrannosaurs (or some of them at least) may have been social animals:

    https://www.ksl.com/article/46580183/tyrannosaurus-a-social-creature

    Teratophoneus_curriei_adult_and_juvenile_2_salt_lake_city.jpg

    Note that this story is being repeated by the media as if concerning Tyrannosaurus itself, but the find is from the Kaiparowits fossil site, which predates Tyrannosaurus by several million years.

    The tyrannosaurid previously found at this site is the smaller but closely related Teratophoneus ("monstrous murderer") which may or may not be ancestral to Tyrannosaurus proper.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Study analyzes the stable isotopes on T. rex's close relative Tarbosaurus' tooth enamel to figure out what it was feeding on. The results indicate that its main prey would've consisted of hadrosaurs (such as Saurolophus) and sauropods of several kinds. The study concludes that Tarbosaurus "sat at the top of the food pyramid" which is... nothing surprising, considering that it is the largest carnivorous dinosaur from that particular time and place.

    https://phys.org/news/2019-06-tooth-enamel-analyses-insights-diet.html

    5d1371d956141.jpg

    May as well mention that evidence of Tarbosaurus feeding on fellow giant theropod Deinocheirus is also known, thus making it clear that, unsurprisingly, Tarbosaurus was feeding on pretty much every other large dinosaur in its environment.

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667112000572

    Tarbosaurus may have been responsible for eating most of the original Deinocheirus specimen, leaving only a few bits and pieces (including the legendary arms) to mistify paleontologists from 1965 to 2009, when new Deinocheirus remains were finally identified.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Possible tyrannosaur track found in China:

    http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-07/29/c_138267706.htm

    http://www.uua.cn/show-10-9726-1.html

    20190730101230911.jpg

    The track is seemingly the right size and age that it could have been left by the tyrannosaurid Qianzhousaurus (probably a synonym of Alioramus), whose fossil remains were previously found in the region.

    crop-611680-qianzhousaurus-sinensis.jpg


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 16,457 Mod ✭✭✭✭Manic Moran


    So I was at the Witte museum yesterday with my juvenile paleontologist (it’s gone well beyond a “phase” now), and they had a picture of T Rex with feathers.

    I’m sorry. I am fully aware that dinos were more feathered than we had believed for years, but a 5 ton chicken is just... wrong.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    So I was at the Witte museum yesterday with my juvenile paleontologist (it’s gone well beyond a “phase” now), and they had a picture of T Rex with feathers.

    I’m sorry. I am fully aware that dinos were more feathered than we had believed for years, but a 5 ton chicken is just... wrong.

    There is a lot of disinformation doing the rounds right now, especially online, regarding T. rex's life appearance. The most recent culprit is a documentary called The Real T. rex with Chris Packham, which somehow managed to convince a lot of people that we know a lot more about T. rex than we actually do, including that it could not roar and that it was covered on feathers (including orange "eyebrows").

    MV5BZmQ1YmYyZjEtMjVlNy00NjgwLThhMmItODY1MTZkOWMwZjA5XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMzAyMjQyODE@._V1_.jpg

    The bare truth is that we have absolutely no evidence of T. rex being feathered. No trace of feathering has been found thus far with any T. rex specimen. Skin impressions of T. rex HAVE been found, and they show what appears to be a covering of small scales:

    cc_Tyranno-skin-1Credit-Amanda-Kelley_16x9.jpg?itok=Cj7zudp_

    The problem is that these skin impressions are very small, and so people often argue that there may have been feathering in other parts of the animal's body; for example, the back and the neck.

    Thing is we have skin impressions from several other tyrannosaurids, closely related to T. rex- such as Tarbosaurus, Albertosaurus, Gorgosaurus and Daspletosaurus- and these come from several parts of the body. Seeing as these animals are very closely related to T. rex, it seems logical to assume that if they were scaly all over, as suggested by the skin impressions, then T. rex probably was too.

    Here's a composite of the skin samples known from several tyrannosaurids and where they come from in the animal's body:

    Tyrannosaur_skin_impressions-lite.jpg

    So why do many people insist on T. rex being feathered? Thing is a few years ago, two theropods were discovered in China that had extensive impressions of feathering. These are Dilong and Yutyrannus. Dilong was a small animal, less than 2 m long, whereas Yutyrannus was pretty large, maybe up to 8 or 9 m long.

    169ef030b2e8b3078a382e5b89b5261b.jpg

    When the skeletons were analyzed it turned out they belonged to the group of the tyrannosauroids- a broad term for several families of presumably related theropods that include the Tyrannosauridae family (and T. rex with it). This of course led paleontologists to suggests that if these distant T. rex relatives were feathered, then T. rex probably was too. But this was before the skin samples from T. rex and other tyrannosaurids became well known.

    In reality there's a 58 million year breach between these early tyrannosauroids and T. rex- that's comparable to the breach between humans and the earliest known primates. A lot can happen in 58 million years. Dilong and Yutyrannus are not classified as part of the Tyrannosauridae family, but tentatively considered as part of the Proceratosauridae. So they are not as close to T. rex as often implied by the supporters of the feathered T. rex hypothesis.

    All in all, there's no evidence or reason thus far to assume that T. rex was feathered. There is a possibility that its ancestors were, and many paleontologists believe that the very youngest T. rex hatchlings possibly had some sort of fuzz to keep warm while small, but since no T. rex or hatchlings or nests of any sort have been found thus far, we can only wait for future discoveries.


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