Yutyrannus
Live reconstruction of Yutyrannus
- China
- Yutyrannus huali Xu et al., 2012
Yutyrannus is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur from the group of Tyrannosauroidea. The date the only known representative of the genus is the first described in April 2012 Yutyrannus huali from the Lower Cretaceous of China. The first record consists of three almost completely preserved fossil skeletons (up to Early Aptian Barremian ) come from the Yixian Formation in Liaoning province and can be divided into two ontogenetic stages.
This dinosaur reached a body length of about nine meters and an estimated weight of about 1400 kilograms. This makes it the largest previously known feathered dinosaurs.
Features
Yutyrannus huali was a great representative of the Tyrannosauroidea and is anatomically close to the origin of this group. The femur of the holotype specimen ( specimen number ZCDM V5000 ) has a length of 85 centimeters, making it longer than some well-known large Tyrannosauroiden the Late Cretaceous, such as Dryptosaurus with a femur length of 77 centimeters or Appalachiosaurus with about 79 centimeters. The weight of ZCDM V5000 is thereby estimated at more than 1400 kg, the two smaller and probably much younger para-type specimens are estimated at a weight of about 500 to 600 kilograms. The body length of the largest specimen is estimated to be about nine meters.
From other Tyrannosauroiden the skull of Yutyrannus huali differs by a wrinkled and hollow bony crest that is formed by the paired nasal bones and the premaxilla, as well as other skull features. Also, the axial skeleton, shoulder girdle and pelvis have specific characteristics.
In all three specimens remains of the body cladding are obtained which consist of clearly recognizable filaments. These are, in the case of the holotype specimen, where they are preserved in the tail spine, at least 15 inches long. The two paratypes these structures, which are interpreted as filamentous feathers come before at various points of the body and measure in some cases more than 20 centimeters. Xu and colleagues ( 2012) assume on the basis of the discovery that Yutyrannus huali similar to those possessed a plumage of feathers from Proto Dilong and other dinosaurs. This Yutyrannus huali is the largest known feathered dinosaurs; he was about 60 times heavier than Sinocalliopteryx and 40 times heavier than Beipiaosaurus.
Locality and fossils
Yutyrannus huali was described on the basis of three nearly complete skeletons from the Yixian Formation in Beipiao in the west of Liaoning Province in the People's Republic of China. The holotype specimen ZCDM V5000 and one of the two para-type specimens ( ZCDM V5001 ) are kept in the Dinosaur Museum in Zhucheng in Shandong province, while the second para-type copy ELDM is V1001 archived in Dinosaur Museum Eren Hot in Inner Mongolia. All three skeletons are nearly complete, the ELDM V1001 lacks the tail.
Taxonomy and systematics
The genus Yutyrannus and the type species contained therein Yutyrannus huali was described in April 2012 by a Chinese research group in the scientific journal Nature for the first time. The name of the genus was carried out on the basis of derived from the Mandarin word "yu " for " feathers" and the Latin " tyrannus " for " king " or " tyrant ". The species name " huali " also comes from the Mandarin word meaning " beautiful".
The descriptor Xu and colleagues ( 2012) classify Yutyrannus as a basal ( original ) Representatives of Tyrannosauroidea. Thus, this genus is classified in the ancestor set of Tyrannosaurus and Dryptosaurus. He is considered the sister taxon of a clade that includes all abgeleiteteren ( advanced ) Representatives of Tyrannosauroidea, so the likewise derived from the Lower Cretaceous Eotyrannus, Xiongguanlong, said Tyrannosauridae including Tyrannosaurus and Dryptosaurus.