Guanlong the early Tyrannosaur from China
(New Drawing)
Guanlong lived in what is now China, in the late Jurassic Period. This was about 160 million years ago. It was an early Tyrannosaur, and it was quite likely an ancestor of the more well known Tyrannosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex. It seems to have had feathers and that is one reason that some paleontologists think that its descendant, T. rex, probably also had feathers.
Guanlong had a crest on its head that is not seen in the later Tyrannosaurs...except for a remnant of it IS seen in the last dinosaur I put on this blog, (The Reaper of Death, Thanatotheristes). This crest on both of these Tyrannosaurs show an evolutionary connection. But Guanlong was much much smaller than Thanatotheristes. Guanlong was small compared to its descendants. Guanlong was only about 10 feet or about 3 meters long. It probably stood at around 3 1/2 feet or just above 1 meter tall. It was still a killer though. It had three fingers on each hand and the arms were proportionally much longer compared to its body size. The later Tyrannosaurs, like those in North America, lost a finger and their arms became much smaller as the head evolved to be proportionally much larger and powerful.
There was another Tyrannosaur form the same area in China called Sinotyrannus. It was like a Guanlong on steroids. Sinotyrannus was closer to 33 feet or 10 meters long. Guanlong passed its crest along because Sinotyrannus had a crest on its snout too. Sinotyrannus lived in the early Cretaceous. Sinotyrannus also probably had feathers.
So to sum up: Guanlong was an early Tyrannosaur from what is now China. It had a crest on its snout. Guanlong lived in the late Jurassic Period. Next came Sinotyrannus, This was also from what is now China. Sinotyrannus also had the crest on its snout. Much later some of the Tyrannosaurs seem to have migrated to North America. Here we see Thanatotheristes. It was the first of the large Tyrannosaurs in North America and it had ridges on its snout that look like they may be remnants of a crest on the snout. Then there were Daspleteosaurus and Albertosaurus and finally Tyrannosaurus rex.
I should note that there were other Tyrannosaurs too. The feathered Yutyrannus and Dilong come to mind. But there were others too. And evolution does not always follow a line. It is more like a branching tree of life. So there are several types of Tyrannosaurs on the Tyrannosaur branch. Still, it is a good bet, I think, that Guanlong may have evolved into Sinotyrannus and maybe this was also the line that gave us Thanatotheristes and the last Tyrannosaurs like Albertosaurus, Daspleteosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus rex.
The Pterosaur or flying reptile in the drawing of Sinotyrannus is also from the early Cretaceous Period in China. It is called: Ikrandraco avatar. It was unusual because it had a crest that was on its lower jaw and not on its snout or head. The two Pterosaurs in the drawing of Guanlong are also from China and, like Guanlong, they are from the Jurassic Period. The one without a crest is Changchengopterus. The one with a crest on its head was a small Pterosaur called Wukongoperus.
To get to the printable versions of my drawings just click on the correct top category button: . . . . .
. . . . . All Printables . . . . . . Paleontology.
Guanlong had a crest on its head that is not seen in the later Tyrannosaurs...except for a remnant of it IS seen in the last dinosaur I put on this blog, (The Reaper of Death, Thanatotheristes). This crest on both of these Tyrannosaurs show an evolutionary connection. But Guanlong was much much smaller than Thanatotheristes. Guanlong was small compared to its descendants. Guanlong was only about 10 feet or about 3 meters long. It probably stood at around 3 1/2 feet or just above 1 meter tall. It was still a killer though. It had three fingers on each hand and the arms were proportionally much longer compared to its body size. The later Tyrannosaurs, like those in North America, lost a finger and their arms became much smaller as the head evolved to be proportionally much larger and powerful.
So to sum up: Guanlong was an early Tyrannosaur from what is now China. It had a crest on its snout. Guanlong lived in the late Jurassic Period. Next came Sinotyrannus, This was also from what is now China. Sinotyrannus also had the crest on its snout. Much later some of the Tyrannosaurs seem to have migrated to North America. Here we see Thanatotheristes. It was the first of the large Tyrannosaurs in North America and it had ridges on its snout that look like they may be remnants of a crest on the snout. Then there were Daspleteosaurus and Albertosaurus and finally Tyrannosaurus rex.
I should note that there were other Tyrannosaurs too. The feathered Yutyrannus and Dilong come to mind. But there were others too. And evolution does not always follow a line. It is more like a branching tree of life. So there are several types of Tyrannosaurs on the Tyrannosaur branch. Still, it is a good bet, I think, that Guanlong may have evolved into Sinotyrannus and maybe this was also the line that gave us Thanatotheristes and the last Tyrannosaurs like Albertosaurus, Daspleteosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus rex.
The Pterosaur or flying reptile in the drawing of Sinotyrannus is also from the early Cretaceous Period in China. It is called: Ikrandraco avatar. It was unusual because it had a crest that was on its lower jaw and not on its snout or head. The two Pterosaurs in the drawing of Guanlong are also from China and, like Guanlong, they are from the Jurassic Period. The one without a crest is Changchengopterus. The one with a crest on its head was a small Pterosaur called Wukongoperus.
To get to the printable versions of my drawings just click on the correct top category button: . . . . .
. . . . . All Printables . . . . . . Paleontology.
Sinotyrannus one of the Tyrannosaurs from China
(This is a new drawing and the drawings down below are from previous posts.
News drawings are found at the bottom of the lists.)
Reaper of Death Thanatotheristes
(Remember that this Tyrannosaur was NOT from China but probably
evolved from the Chinese Tyrannosaurs.)
Yutyrannus
(Remember that this Tyrannosaur was NOT from China but probably
evolved from the Chinese Tyrannosaurs.)
Yutyrannus
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