LegendaryDilong
Dilong paradoxus
DEE-long· “emperor dragon”
🦕 Dinosaur🕰️ Cretaceous🥩 carnivore🦴 Proceratosauridae
2 m
Length
0.7 m
Height
20 kg
Weight
An early, small tyrannosauroid from China preserved with simple feathers — the first direct evidence that the tyrannosaur lineage started out fuzzy, long before the giant, scaly Tyrannosaurus.
When
Early Cretaceous, ~126 million years ago
Found in
China
Discovered
Xu Xing, 2004
Did you know?
- An early cousin of T. rex, and one of the first found with feathers.
- Its downy coat hints that baby tyrannosaurs may have been fuzzy too.
- Only about 2 metres long, a tiny fraction of T. rex's size.
Artwork: Conty, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.