T-rex had giant feathered ancestor
Baku, April 6 (AZERTAC). Palaeontologists in China have uncovered the biggest feathered dinosaur ever found.
Scientists have known for over a decade that some small dinosaurs had bird-like feathers.
But a report in the journal Nature says the new species of tyrannosaur, which was 9 metres long and weighed about one and a half tonnes, provides direct evidence of the existance of gigantic feathered dinosaurs and has implications for early feather evolution.
The theropod, which was an ancient relative of Tyrannosaurus rex, was 40 times larger than any previously known feathered dinosaur.
It`s been named Yutyrannus huali which is a combination of Latin and Mandarin, and means "beautiful feathered tyrant" referring to the beauty of the plumage.
The paper`s lead author, Professor Xu Xing from Beijing`s Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Paleoanthropology, says the new species is based on three beautifully preserved specimens.
"The feathers of Yutyrannus were simple filaments," says Xu.
"They were more like the fuzzy down of a modern baby chick than the stiff plumes of an adult bird."
The almost complete skeletons were found near each other in a quarry in the famous dinosaur fossil beds of Liaoning Province in north-eastern China.”
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