Half Feathered T. rex and Quetzalcoatlus and some other Tyrannosaurs

Half Feathered T. rex and Qetzalcoatlus

(New Drawing)

This drawing shows a young sub-adult T. rex with about half of its body covered in feathers.   There is also a Quetazlcoatlaus in the air, a bit further back in the picture.  .  But an international team of paleontologists looked at know Tyrannosaur skin impressions from around various parts of the body, like the neck.  This showed that there was scaly, non-feathered skin.  However, it has also been pointed out that birds have feathers, but not on all parts of their bodies.  There is also the possibility that upon hatching the T. rex chicks had feathers but gradually lost them as the grew to adulthood.  So this sub-adult would be only partially feathered.

The large Pterosaur in the sky is a Qetzalcoatlus.  Quetzalcoatl was the great Aztec feathered serpent god.  But Qetzalcoatlus did NOT have feathers....maybe some kind of Pterosaur fuzz...but no feathers.  Qetzalcoatlus was the biggest of all known Pterosaurs.  It had a very long jaw that measured 8 feet or 2.5 meters.  That makes it the longest jaw of any non marine animal.  Those jaws were like scissors or very large tweezers, but they lacked any teeth.  When on the wing the wingspan was 52 feet or about 16 meters wide.  That is huge!   When on land a standing Qetzalcoatlus was around 18 feet tall!   That is as tall as most giraffes!   This was a VERY impressive animal!!!  I should point out that you might get confused by my title of this post.  Please understand that Quezalcoatlus is NOT a type of Tyrannosaur.  But the below drawings, which are all from former posts...are truly of types of Tyrannosaurs. 

T. rex Baby in Nest

Small, young animals have trouble staying warm, but in warm climates, like North America in the Late Cretaceous, the larger animals have a big problem staying cool.  This supports the idea that perhaps the feathers were a juvenile trait on the Tyrannosaurs. 

Yutyrannus

(Older drawing)

There is proof of a feathered Tyrannosaur from China.  It is called Yutyrannus hauli and it was clearly feathered.  Yutyrannus was a 30 foot or about 9 meter long Tyrannosaur that appears to have kept its feathers as an adult.

Feathered Tyrannosaurus rex

(Older Drawing)

Yutyrannus

(Older Drawing)

Lythronax the Gore King

(older drawing)

Lythronax was an even smaller Tyrannosaur that lived in what is now Utah.  Lythronax argestes whose name means Gore King... was about 24 feet or 8 meters long and weighed 2.5 tons.  It is thought that it had some feathers as an adult...or at least some proto-feathers.  The fossilized bones and a great mural of this animal can be seen at the Natural History Museum Utah...located at or near the University of Utah Campus in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

T. rex drawing from Skull

(Older drawing of traditional T. rex)

Or perhaps Tyrannosaurs rex never had feathers at any stage of life.  Remember that Science changes with new discovereis so maybe someday we will know for sure.  

All these drawings are found in printable form by looking through the lists when you click on the buttons at the top of the page.  The new drawing will be under the Paleontology button and at the bottom of the list of  Animals of the Mesozoic Era.