Feather Tarranosauroids

Morning Edition, October 7, 2004 · The earliest-known ancestor of Tyrannosaurus rex -- the prehistoric world's most famous predator -- sported short "protofeathers," scientists report in the latest issue of the journal Nature. The feathered remains of the primitive tyrannosauroid, which lived some 130 million years ago, were unearthed in China.

As NPR's Christopher Joyce reports, the early tyrannosauroid was much smaller than its most famous cousin, T. rex, who lived some 65 million to 75 million years ago. Some scientists speculate the feathers evolved as an insulation mechanism to keep the animals warm when they were young, and were likely shed by the adults.

Researchers have christened the new feathery dino Tyrannosauroid Dilong paradoxus -- the name means "surprising emperor dragon." It was discovered in western Liaoning, China, a region rich in fossils and the only place in the world that has yielded dinosaur fossils with actual feathers, not just impressions of them.

The skull of an early tyrannosauroid discovered in western Liaoning, China. The skull has the distinctively square-snouted profile of its much larger and more famous cousin, T. rex.

An artist's impression of what the feathered T. rex ancestor might have looked like. The primitive tyrannosauroid was about four-feet-long and lived some 130 million years ago.

Morning Edition, August 5, 2004 · When the fossilized remains of a 147-million-year-old creature were pulled out of German limestone mine in 1861, scientists hailed them as a missing link between birds and dinosaurs. Archaeopteryx was a small, meat-eating animal with dinosaur-like teeth and clawed hands, but it had the feathered wings of a bird. A fight over whether the creature could fly has raged ever since.

Now, a new paper in Nature may have ended the argument. Researchers with London's Natural History Museum and the University of Texas at Austin used CT scans of the fossil to reconstruct the anatomy of its brain. They report its brain closely resembled that of modern-day sparrows and was well developed for flight. NPR's John Nielsen reports.

An artist's impression of the oldest known bird, Archaeopteryx. Until know, researchers were unsure if the bird could fly. A new study of a fossilized brain cavity suggests it was well-equipped to fly.

This 147-million-year-old Archaeopteryx fossil, owned by London's Natural History Museum, is one of only seven in the world. Discovered in Germany in 1861, it was the first fossil found of the small, meat-eating bird. Scientists used X-ray scans of its braincase to create 3-D reconstructions and investigate the anatomy of the brain in detail. Credit: Natural History Museum

Day to Day, February 6, 2004 · A new exhibit of dinosaurs sporting feathers is stirring controversy in the scientific community. The exhibit's organizer says the fossils prove that birds, as a species, are much older than researchers previously believe.

Eric Niiler of member station KPBS toured the exhibit at San Diego's Natural History Museum, which features 120-million-year-old fossils discovered in northeastern China. The exhibit includes 10-foot-tall models of what some paleontologists believe a feathered raptor might have looked like.

Not everyone in the scientific community believes in the dinosaur-bird connection. But the curator of the exhibit, dinosaur sculptor and self-styled paleontologist Stephen Czerkas is adding a new wrinkle to the debate: He claims what many scientists believe are feathered dinosaurs are really primitive birds.

Feathered Raptor: A model of a 10-foot feathered raptor deinonychus at the San Diego Museum of Natural History, covered with feathers from ostrich, emu and other modern-day flightless birds. The creatures lived 125 million years ago. Credit: Eric Niiler for NPR News