• Tag Archives Yutyrannus

    Tyrannosaurus rex walking towards camera. Art by John Sibbick.







    Scaly tyrannosaur cannonball one had been shot.




    Cannonball number 2 had just been shot.

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  • “Feathers” on the big, “feathers” on the small, but “feathers” for dinosaurs one and all?


    Yutyrannus artwork by Brian Choo. Sciurumimus artwork by Arkady Rose

    This year has seen the discovery of two big deal dinosaur specimens. At least they are a big deal in regards to dinosaur integument and, possibly, metabolism.

    First off from a few months ago we had the announcement the theropod Yutyrannus hauli, the “beautiful feathered tyrant.”

    Xu, X., Kebai, W., Ke, Z., Qingyu, M., Lida, X., Sullivan, C., Dongyu, H., Shuqing, C., Shuo, W. 2012. A Gigantic Feathered Dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China. Nature. Vol.484:92-95

    This was not just a single fossil, but a collection of three fossils (one might be tempted to call it a family group, but that would only be speculation). As with all other dinosaur fossils that have been found to have filamentous integument, these guys come from Liaoning, China. They are suspected to have come from the Jehol Group in the Yixian formation. I say suspected because the complete three specimen set was a purchase from a fossil dealer, an all too common occurrence for Chinese fossils. As such the provenance information is unknown. A lot of Chinese fossil dealers don’t like to give away the location of their find due to the potential loss of other profitable specimens. This current trend in China is a good example of what happens when capitalism comes into play with fossil collecting (something that the U.S. has been mostly, but not entirely, able to avoid). So it is currently uncertain whether these fossils are from the Yixian. However given that all the others guys are too it is probably a good bet. Given the sketchy nature in which many Yixian fossils are collected, coupled with the possibly large consequences of the find, one should naturally be skeptical of the fossil. Had it been one individual on multiple slabs I would question its validity as a real thing. However since Y.huali is known from three individuals, and the filaments seem to follow a consistent pattern around the body (compare that to the helter-skelter nature of Tianyulong‘s preservation), forgery seems unlikely. These guys are probably the real deal. This has some potentially far reaching consequences to interpretations of Late Cretaceous coelurosaurs and the Jehol Biota itself (more on this in a bit).

    The second announcement came just a few weeks ago. This was the discovery of a potentially new, miniscule theropod from Bavaria Germany.

    Rauhut, O.W.M., Foth, C., Tischlinger, H., Norell, M.A. 2012. Exceptionally Preserved Juvenile Megalosauroid Theropod Dinosaur with Filamentous Integument from the Late Jurassic of Germany. PNAS Early Edition:1203238109v1-201203238.

    The specimen is exceptionally well preserved. So well preserved in fact that it actually looks like a plastic toy. While this degree of preservation warrants importance all its own, the main interest behind this new guy—dubbed: Sciurumimus albersdoerferi (Albersdörfer’s squirrel mimic)—is the apparent presence of filamentous integument on the body coupled with its apparent placement among much more basal theropods. This discovery has far reaching consequences for theropod integument interpretations. Note: As with Y.hauli, Sciurumimus albersdoerferi was also purchased from a private collector. I don’t suspect forgery here either as this was in Germany, where fossil dealing is neither a big problem nor a lucrative business. The exceptional detail on the specimen would also require a substantial amount of theropod knowledge to pull off. Anyone having that amount of knowledge is more likely to be a real paleontologist than a get rich quick forger.

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