Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Key Laboratory of Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 142 Xiwai Street, Beijing 100044, China.
Nature. 2012 Apr 4;484(7392):92-5. doi: 10.1038/nature10906.
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 animals. 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 tyrannosauroids, but is similar to other basal tyrannosauroids in possessing a three-fingered manus and a typical theropod pes. Morphometric analysis suggests that Y. huali differed from tyrannosaurids in its growth strategy. 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.
大量带羽毛恐龙的标本最近在中国东北的中-上侏罗统和下白垩统的沉积物中被发现，但它们大多数代表小型动物。在这里，我们报道了一种新的巨型基干暴龙类恐龙——华丽羽王龙（Yutyrannus huali gen. et sp. nov.）的发现，它基于产自中国辽宁省下白垩统义县组的三个近乎完整的骨架，代表了两个不同的个体发育阶段。华丽羽王龙与一些衍生的暴龙类具有一些特征，特别是在头骨上，但它与其他基干暴龙类一样，具有三指的手部和典型的兽脚亚目足。形态测量分析表明，华丽羽王龙的生长策略与暴龙类不同。最显著的是，华丽羽王龙具有长而丝状的羽毛，因此为广泛羽毛化的巨型恐龙的存在提供了直接证据，并为早期羽毛演化提供了新的见解。
