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A gigantic feathered dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China

Nature volume 484, pages 92–95 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

Numerous feathered dinosaur specimens have recently been recovered from the Middle–Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous deposits of northeastern China, but most of them represent small animals1. Here we report the discovery of a gigantic new basal tyrannosauroid, Yutyrannus huali gen. et sp. nov., based on three nearly complete skeletons representing two distinct ontogenetic stages from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning Province, China. Y. huali shares some features, particularly of the cranium, with derived tyrannosauroids2,3, but is similar to other basal tyrannosauroids4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 in possessing a three-fingered manus and a typical theropod pes. Morphometric analysis suggests that Y. huali differed from tyrannosaurids in its growth strategy13,14. Most significantly, Y. huali bears long filamentous feathers, thus providing direct evidence for the presence of extensively feathered gigantic dinosaurs and offering new insights into early feather evolution.

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Figure 1: Yutyrannus huali (ZCDM V5000 and ZCDM V5001).
Figure 2: Selected elements of Y. huali (ZCDM V5000, ZCDM V5001 and ELDM V1001).
Figure 3: A simplified cladogram showing the systematic position of Y. huali among the Tyrannosauroidea.

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Acknowledgements

We thank L. Zhang for discussions, R. Li, H. Zang and X. Ding for illustrations, and H. Wang, L. Xiang and R. Cao for preparing the specimens. We thank the Zhucheng Municipal Government and Erlianhaote Municipal Government for support. This study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Special Funds For Major State Basic Research Projects of China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Key Laboratory of Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 142 Xiwai Street, Beijing 100044, China,

    Xing Xu, Qingyu Ma, Corwin Sullivan & Shuo Wang

  2. Liaoning Paleontological Museum, Shenyang Normal University, 253 North Huanghe Street, Shenyang 110034, China,

    Xing Xu & Dongyu Hu

  3. Zhucheng Dinosaur Museum, Zhucheng, Shandong, 262200, China

    Kebai Wang & Shuqing Cheng

  4. School of the Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, 28 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, China,

    Ke Zhang

  5. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, 11145 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada,

    Lida Xing

  6. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China,

    Shuo Wang

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Contributions

X.X. designed the project. X.X., K.W., K.Z., Q.M., L.X., C.S., D.H., S.C. and S.W. performed the research. X.X., C.S. and Q.M. wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xing Xu.

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Xu, X., Wang, K., Zhang, K. et al. A gigantic feathered dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China. Nature 484, 92–95 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10906

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