Pint-Sized Fuzzy Dinosaur

The March 19, 2009 issue of Nature (vol. 458, p. 333) reports a cool new proto-feathered dinosaur, Tianyulong confuciusi. Most of the feathered dinosaurs discovered so far are two-legged carnivores who nested on the branch of the evolutionary tree that led to modern birds. Tianyulong confuciusi belongs to the other major branch of dinosaurs that includes armored, horned, spiked and duck-billed species. Psittacosaurus is the only other dinosaur in this group known to have integumentary structures (fur, feathers, etc.)*. This implies that feathers evolved earlier that previously suspected, or both branches of the dinosaurs evolved feathers independently.

Tianyulong confuciusi’s feathers were not true feathers as are found on birds. They appear to be hollow filaments known as proto-feathers or “dinofuzz". These plant-eating dinosaurs were about the size of a cat and had long tails. The Not Exactly Rocket Science blog has an artist’s rendition of the dinosaur and some photos of the proto-feather fossils.

*Psittacosaurus had tail bristles.