Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Dilong paradoxus
Dilong paradoxus is one of the earliest and most primitive known tyrannosaurs, and had a covering of feathers. Dilong paradoxus, meaning emperor dragon paradox (referring to the association of Tyrannosaurus rex with feathers), is 130 million years old, dating to the early Cretaceous period. Dilong comes from Yixian in the Liaoning provence of China.
The feathers were seen in a fossilized skin impression of the jaw and tail. They are not developed as modern feathers, lacking a central shaft and used for warmth rather than fligth. The larger Tyrannosaurus rex skin had scales, so the feathers were lost as the animal became larger.
Dilong was about 1.6 meters in length, known from four moderately complete skeletons.
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10-26-2009 08:16:03
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The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details