Basal tyrannosauroids from China and evidence for protofeathers in tyrannosauroids

Xing Xu (), Mark A. Norell (), Xuewen Kuang, Xiaolin Wang, Qi Zhao and Chengkai Jia
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Xing Xu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Mark A. Norell: American Museum of Natural History
Xuewen Kuang: Tianjin Museum of Natural History
Xiaolin Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Qi Zhao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Chengkai Jia: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature, 2004, vol. 431, issue 7009, 680-684

Abstract: Abstract Tyrannosauroids are one of the last and the most successful large-bodied predatory dinosaur groups1,2,3,4,5, but their early history remains poorly understood. Here we report a new basal tyrannosauroid from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, China, which is small and gracile and has relatively long arms with three-fingered hands. The new taxon is the earliest known unquestionable tyrannosauroid found so far6,7,8,9. It shows a mosaic of characters, including a derived cranial structure resembling that of derived tyrannosauroids1,2,3,4,5 and a primitive postcranial skeleton similar to basal coelurosaurians. One of the specimens also preserves a filamentous integumentary covering similar to that of other coelurosaurian theropods from western Liaoning. This provides the first direct fossil evidence that tyrannosauroids had protofeathers.

Date: 2004
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DOI: 10.1038/nature02855

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