From the North (of China) came the furry tyrannosaurs

[Gryphoceratops]

Cool Stuff!  It was only a matter of time before something like this was found.  Now I gotta go back to all my illustrations and paint on some more feathers haha. 

[Arioch]

Somehow the whole preening themselves thing would be a lot more problematic than overheating. But its no like ratite feathers need a lot more attention than fuzz and proper mammal hair....

Uh,  seems like this fella skull is not very tyrannosaur-like. More like a carnosaur, maybe carcharodontosaurid. Feathered non coelurosaurus? Please, DO WANT. 

http://www.box.com/s/07e3bcc867a4ddf112c0

It's probably less about the skull (which of course changes through species) and more about dental structure, which appear very tyrannosauroid.  It's the same reason Proceratosaurus was eventually determined to be a tyrannosauroid as well.  Note that it is tyrannosauroid, not tyrannosaurid. Different phylogenetic level.

I agree -with "tyrannosaur" I meant tyrannosauroid- , but without reading the paper and at first glance seems a lot like Concavenator skull. But then they do mention all this features (including the ressemblance with Conca), and I also noticed that the leg proportions seem rather coelurosaur like . This paper is too brief to my taste , though....

[Gwangi]

Good thing this didn't come out a couple days ago or I wouldn't have believed it but I'm honestly not surprised.  This sort of thing was bound to be found eventually but boy is it exciting. I'm sure the toy companies will be scrambling to make this guy...I hope they do anyway. What an awe inspiring site this beast must have been. I don't normally give newly discovered species favorite status but yeah...this is one of my new favorite dinosaurs.

[SBell]

Somehow the whole preening themselves thing would be a lot more problematic than overheating. But its no like ratite feathers need a lot more attention than fuzz and proper mammal hair....

Uh,  seems like this fella skull is not very tyrannosaur-like. More like a carnosaur, maybe carcharodontosaurid. Feathered non coelurosaurus? Please, DO WANT. 

http://www.box.com/s/07e3bcc867a4ddf112c0

It's probably less about the skull (which of course changes through species) and more about dental structure, which appear very tyrannosauroid.  It's the same reason Proceratosaurus was eventually determined to be a tyrannosauroid as well.  Note that it is tyrannosauroid, not tyrannosaurid. Different phylogenetic level.

I agree -with "tyrannosaur" I meant tyrannosauroid- , but without reading the paper and at first glance seems a lot like Concavenator skull. But then they do mention all this features (including the ressemblance with Conca), and I also noticed that the leg proportions seem rather coelurosaur like . This paper is too brief to my taste , though....

Tyrannosaurs are coelurosaurs, or is that your point? It's a little hard to tell.  And leg proportion is meaningless when it comes to affinity anyway--lots of groups of animals have species that have developed adaptations to different lifestyles and environments (plus, Yutyrannus is still 'small' compared to Tyrannosaurus).

[Arioch]

I was just digressing out of excitement- and yes, both the particular skull and the legs could be subject of ontogenic changes.  Leg proportions (regarding tibia and femur) are actually significative, though not essential for the classification of a theropod as either carnosaur or coelurosaur. And what do you mean with the size difference?

[SBell]

I was just digressing out of excitement- and yes, both the particular skull and the legs could be subject of ontogenic changes.  Leg proportions (regarding tibia and femur) are actually significative, though not essential for the classification of a theropod as either carnosaur or coelurosaur. And what do you mean with the size difference?

Smaller species are generally proportioned differently, that's all.

[Arioch]

I was just digressing out of excitement- and yes, both the particular skull and the legs could be subject of ontogenic changes.  Leg proportions (regarding tibia and femur) are actually significative, though not essential for the classification of a theropod as either carnosaur or coelurosaur. And what do you mean with the size difference?

Smaller species are generally proportioned differently, that's all.

Like you said that actually depend on the lifestyle and another factors; see the stocky legs of dromaeosaurs and the running hindlimbs of carnotaurus. Tyrannosauroids on the other hand seem to have quite an standard runner build and even he biggest form -think an adult rexy- could be significantly faster than an analogue sized carnosaur- more a fast walker than a proper runner though. Fair enough

PS: Darren Naish thought it could be a carcharodontosaurid too, seems like it wasn´t such a crazy idea after all... : http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2012/04/04/giant-feathered-tyrannosaurs/

[suspsy]

What a wonderful discovery! And who else is excited by the prospect of a future Yutyrannus toy?

[Horridus]

And who else is excited by the prospect of a future Yutyrannus toy?

Me! It'd be perfect for the Carnegie Collection.

[paleoferroequine]

Yes, a Carnegie figure would be cool! But I bet CollectA will be first. In the meantime I'll have to figure out what current figure I can modify.
What's kind of funny is they are given goatees on their chinny chin chins!

[Gwangi]

I'm kind of curious about that goatee, is there evidence for that or is it just artistic license? Hopefully they do a study on this guy like they did with Microraptor and figure out what color it was. That would be intense.

[Arioch]

Well, that study is going on as we speak...

"Xu is now attempting to reconstruct the colours of Yutyrannus huali's feathers"


I´d say the goatee is just an artistic license. Not so unlikely if you ask me...

[Gwangi]

Well, that study is going on as we speak...

"Xu is now attempting to reconstruct the colours of Yutyrannus huali's feathers"


I´d say the goatee is just an artistic license. Not so unlikely if you ask me...

Sweet  I don't know about the goatee though, seems like it would get caked up in blood and such. Maybe the simple act of drinking would be enough to keep it clean.

[ZoPteryx]

What an amazing discovery! Unfortunately, I'm sure a backlash of "they're just tendons or fungus or something!" is soon to emerge.

I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of Feather Haters suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced!

Yes, a Carnegie figure would be cool! But I bet CollectA will be first. In the meantime I'll have to figure out what current figure I can modify.

Yeah, I'd say CollectA will be first and then Carnegie will make one the following year.  As for a modifying a figure, I'd recommend the CollectA Eotyrannus; it's about the right size and already has feathers.

Well, that study is going on as we speak...

"Xu is now attempting to reconstruct the colours of Yutyrannus huali's feathers"

Now that will be even cooler!  Animals tend to keep similar color schemes in their family, so it could help us interpret what colors T. rex might have had!

[Gryphoceratops]

Well, that study is going on as we speak...

"Xu is now attempting to reconstruct the colours of Yutyrannus huali's feathers"

Now that will be even cooler!  Animals tend to keep similar color schemes in their family, so it could help us interpret what colors T. rex might have had!

Not really.  It would still be cool to know what color it was though. 

[ZoPteryx]

Well, that study is going on as we speak...

"Xu is now attempting to reconstruct the colours of Yutyrannus huali's feathers"

Now that will be even cooler!  Animals tend to keep similar color schemes in their family, so it could help us interpret what colors T. rex might have had!

Not really.  It would still be cool to know what color it was though.

I just meant that if this tyrannosauroid turns out to be colorful, it means that its bigger relatives could be colorful as well and not the subtle earth-tones they're normally restored with.  Nothing is guaranteed of course.

[Seijun]

[robustus_]

I can't copy and paste the article due to computer problems, but look it up if you haven't. Here's a little teaser:

IT'S A THIRTY-FOOT-LONG, FEATHERED TYRANNOSAUROID.

[robustus_]

And I was all excited about starting the new topic in the Dinosaurs section

Anyway, this find is outstanding. I'd love to see what the color studies show.

[DinoToyForum]

I can't copy and paste the article due to computer problems, but look it up if you haven't. Here's a little teaser:

IT'S A THIRTY-FOOT-LONG, FEATHERED TYRANNOSAUROID.

You're late to the party! I'll merge your post with the existing thread
http://www.dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php/topic,228.0.html