Giant feathered dinosaur found in China was too big to fly

[Judi Lynn]

Giant feathered dinosaur found in China was too big to fly

The dinosaur Yutyrannus huali – 'beautiful feathered tyrant' – either used its feathers to keep warm or attract a mate

Madeleine Cuff
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 April 2012 13.00 EDT



[font size=1]A group of the newly discovered feathered dinosaurs Yutyrannus
huali and two sauropods. Artist's impression: Dr Brian Choo[/font]

The discovery of the largest known feathered dinosaur was announced by scientists in China on Wednesday. Similar in size and shape to Tyrannosaurus rex, palaeontologists at the Chinese academy of sciences in Beijing have named the new species Yutyrannus huali, meaning "beautiful feathered tyrant".

At nine metres long and weighing more than 1.4 tonnes, it is also the largest feathered animal ever discovered – either alive or extinct.

Local farmers found three specimens in a small quarry in the Liaoning province of north-east China. Palaeontologists estimate that they are 125m years old, dating from the early Cretaceous period, and they believe that, like Tyrannosaurus rex, the animals hunted in packs. The three were found alongside the remains of a sauropod dinosaur that the researchers think they may have been hunting when they died.

"Finding a large dinosaur is not very easy, especially a complete skeleton," said Professor Xu Xing of Beijing's institute of vertebrate palaeontology and palaeoanthropology and the lead author of the study, which is published in Nature. "To have a complete skeleton with all the beautiful feathers preserved is a big discovery." Feathered dinosaurs have been found in China before, but they have all been much smaller.

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/apr/04/giant-feathered-dinosaur-china-big-fly

[tabatha]

1. That may provide info on the evolutionary path to birds.

[arcane1]

2. They're beautiful too!

[Judi Lynn]

3. Dinosaur feathers: Fossils indicate T. rex cousin had shaggy coat

Dinosaur feathers: Fossils indicate T. rex cousin had shaggy coat
Yutyrannus huali fossils, found in China, show that the giants had primitive fuzzy feathers at least in patches and probably in a full coat, a scientist says.

By Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times
5:45 p.m. EDT, April 4, 2012

When it comes to dino outerwear, shag might be the new scales.

Fossil evidence from a trio of 125-million-year-old dinosaurs that were relatives of Tyrannosaurus rex indicate the giant creatures were wore primitive feathers.

The three tyrannosauroids — one adult and two juveniles — belong to a newly described species discovered in northeastern China. The full-grown Yutyrannus huali weighed 3,000 pounds and stretched about 30 feet from nose to tail. The younger ones were still impressive at about 1,100 and 1,300 pounds. The fossils are described in a study published in Thursday's edition of the journal Nature.

The dinosaurs are noteworthy for being such complete specimens, scientists said. But the most eye-catching part of the find might well be the patchily preserved signs of fossilized feathers around different parts of the animals' bodies. Indeed, the "Yu" in the creatures' name is the Mandarin word for feather, and "huali" means beautiful, a reference, the study authors said, to the animals' plumage.

More:
http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/nationworld/la-sci-giant-feathered-dinosaur-20120405,0,7807807.story

[Javaman]

4. The fossilized imprints of dinosaur skin always looked like

chicken skin to me.

Is it possible that a great many of the known dinosaurs had feathers or proto-feathers?

[HopeHoops]

5. KFC missed a great opportunity. "Kettle of Fried Dino" - at the drive through!

[Getacho]

6. Spam deleted by Warren DeMontague (MIR Team)

[DavidDvorkin]

7. I'd keep my distance from those paleontologists

who are similar in size and shape to Tyrannosaurus Rex.