New, large Tyrannosaur found - 80 MY Old - in UTAH

[Simon]

http://news.yahoo.com/tyrannosaur-discovered-southern-utah-195305192.html

[Krissy]

Wow that's exciting. A bit more detail here http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/nov/06/lythronax-argestes-tyrannosaurs I can't find much detail about the feathers and their placement on the body anywhere, but we'll see. It's amazing how robust the skull is, I never thought we'd see such powerful Tyrannosaurids so early in the fossil record. And this looks like it might solve the question of where exactly the late Tyrannosaurids came from, Asia or North America.

Also, 'King of Gore' is just a really cool name. 

[tyrantqueen]

Cool discovery, but actually it says mentions scales and feathers in one sentence. It was pretty easy to miss.

It was 24 feet long and 8 feet tall at the hip, and was covered in scales and feathers, Loewen said. Asked what the carnivorous dinosaur ate, Loewen responded: "Whatever it wants."

How big is this tyrannosaurid compared to Yutyrannus?

[Gwangi]

Are feathers really preserved for this guy or is that just something the journalists are assuming because feathers are on the model? 

[wings]

Are feathers really preserved for this guy or is that just something the journalists are assuming because feathers are on the model? 

It is likely to be an assumption since on the original paper the preserved integument (if any) was never mentioned (http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0079420). I doubt there is any found since it wasn't listed in the material section.

[Jetoar]

King of gore, it is a good name  .

[amargasaurus cazaui]

They basically recovered the skull and little else, and no, there were no feathers found with the animal. He is basing his comments on the given associations that theropods seem to share, and not the skeletal remains found. His precise comment was...the dinosaur would have had feathers when living...not that the remains showed feathers.

[Yutyrannus]

Awesome! I will probably add this to my series, Dinosaurs: Monsters of the Mesozoic.

[tyrantqueen]

Are feathers really preserved for this guy or is that just something the journalists are assuming because feathers are on the model? 

It is likely to be an assumption since on the original paper the preserved integument (if any) was never mentioned (http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0079420). I doubt there is any found since it wasn't listed in the material section.

Isn't this a bit disingenuous on the new reporters' part? People might get the wrong idea and think there was fuzz/feathers preserved when there wasn't. I'm not saying it wasn't fuzzy in real life btw.

They basically recovered the skull and little else, and no, there were no feathers found with the animal. He is basing his comments on the given associations that theropods seem to share, and not the skeletal remains found. His precise comment was...the dinosaur would have had feathers when living...not that the remains showed feathers.

Oh, I get it now. I didn't see your post.