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Scientists find the king of the feathered dinosaurs

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G

Gaborn

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The discovery of a giant meat-eating dinosaur sporting a downy coat has some scientists reimagining the look of Tyrannosaurus rex.

With a killer jaw and sharp claws, T. rex has long been depicted in movies and popular culture as having scaly skin. But the discovery of an earlier relative suggests the king of dinosaurs may have had a softer side.

The evidence comes from the unearthing of a new tyrannosaur species in northeastern China that lived 60 million years before T. rex. The fossil record preserved remains of fluffy down, making it the largest feathered dinosaur ever found.

If a T. rex relative had feathers, why not T. rex? Scientists said the evidence is trending in that direction.

"People need to start changing their image of T. rex," said Luis Chiappe, director of the Dinosaur Institute at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, who was not part of the discovery team.

Much smaller dinosaurs with primitive feathers have been excavated in recent years, but this is the first direct sign of a huge, shaggy dinosaur. Scientists have long debated whether gigantic dinosaurs lost their feathers the bigger they got or were just not as extensively covered.

The new tyrannosaur species, Yutyrannus huali, is described in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature. Its name is a blend of Latin and Mandarin, which translates to "beautiful feathered tyrant."

A team of Chinese and Canadian scientists analyzed three well-preserved fossil skeletons — an adult and two juveniles — recovered from a quarry in China's Liaoning Province by a private fossil dealer. Most striking were remains of downlike feathers on the neck and arm. Though coverage was patchy, scientists suspected the species had feathers over much of its body.

It would have felt like touching "long, thick fur," co-author Corwin Sullivan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said in an email. Another scientist, Thomas Holtz Jr. at the University of Maryland, compared it to the feathers of an emu.

The creature lived about 125 million years ago. Y. huali was 30 feet (9 meters) long and weighed more than a ton. It would have been big enough to reach T. rex's chest.

The dino-fuzz probably provided insulation, though paleontologists can't rule out the possibility that the feathers were also used as camouflage or could be shown off like a peacock's feathery display for mating.

Since T. rex is related to this newfound feathery species, chances are good that T. rex was feathered as well, scientists said. Just don't mistake fuzzy for cuddly. The predatory dinosaur would have been just as menacing.

Having feathers "doesn't make it less threatening or less fearsome," said Holtz, who had no role in the research.

Matthew Lamanna, assistant curator at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, said T. rex most likely was covered in both feathers and scales.

Whatever the coverage of feathers, the latest fossil finds "force us to conceive of tyrannosauroids in a new way," said Julia Clarke at the University of Texas at Austin.
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Story Here
 
S

stilgar

Member
Whatever the coverage of feathers, the latest fossil finds "force us to conceive of tyrannosauroids in a new way," said Julia Clarke at the University of Texas at Austin.
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No it does not.


NOW GET OUT
 
C

Cat Party

Member
How long until they conclude T-Rex was really just 5-6 smaller dinosaurs standing on top of one another for laughs.
 
LQX

LQX

Member
Waiting for the day paleontologists discover T-Rex had wings and flew. Still, I must be the only one that actually thinks it's an amazing development rather than"my childhood is destroyed" that Dinosaur had fur feathers.
 
N

NaturalHigh

Member
The evidence comes from the unearthing of a new tyrannosaur species in northeastern China that lived 60 million years before T. rex.
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FUCK THE EVIDENCE I COULD GO BALD TOMORROW. TREX IS A BALD BADASS. FUCK U SCIENCE. GO BALD TREX.

science clearly doesn't understand evolution...or hair/feather loss. 60 million years...lmao. maybe it just got warmer somewhere along the line and feathers weren't needed? or maybe those feathered FAKE ASS dinosaurs had predators above them in the food chain cause they were obvious chickens, so they grew feathers to hide like bitches.

i swear if science decides trex's have arms i'm going to a dinosaur exhibit with a baseball bat.
 
F

FillerB

Member
Zzoram said:
I want a Jurassic Park remake with all the updated dinosaur information we have.
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Directed by Micheal Bay of course for maximum childhood-destroying points.

It's great the we keep learning more and more about Earth's history while we still can but why must you do this Science? Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy?
 
K

Kinyou

Member
btw. are there any updates on the issue that maybe the T-Rex was just a scavenger? That would ruin my childhood more than a billion feathers could
 
I

IlliterateBookworm

Neo Member
I've come to terms with smaller dinosaurs having feathers and down all over them.

Big massive ones like the Tyrannosaurs? Makes me sad they aren't all scales and stiff tails any more like they were when I was a kid.

I can't help but wonder if any of the sauropods had anything similar. Maybe when they were young? Now that would be interesting to see.
 
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