Dilong (dinosaur)

Type specimen of the genus

• China

• Dilong paradoxus

Dilong ( " Imperial Dragon" ) is a genus theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of China. At the time of the scientific first description was in 2004, the genus to which only the type species D. paradoxus heard one of the oldest found so far Tyrannosauroiden.

This tyrannosauroide early form reached a length of 1.5 meters, so she was rather small compared to later representatives of this group. Fossil evidence Dilongs come from the approximately 136-131 million years old, Yixian Formation in the Chinese province of Liaoning. This animal had a high probability of proto- feathers, as well as many other Coelurosaurier.

The genus name comes from the Chinese word Dilong or Ti Lung for Earth Dragon, its small size and its proto- feathers are, however, to the exterior of this mythological being inconsistent. Four relatively well-preserved skeletons of D. total found paradoxus. Like other early tyrannosaur Dilong had three fingers on each long arms, while the later tyrannosaurs like Tyrannosaurus only have short arms, each with two fingers.