• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • WordPress
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Science Update

Science Update

Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS

  • Spotlights
  • Reality Check
  • Why Is It?
  • Radio Archives
  • Sciup @ School
Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » T. Rex’s Feathered Cousin

T. Rex’s Feathered Cousin

May 7, 2012
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/120507_sciup_feather.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window

BOB HIRSHON (host):

An ancient feathered tyrant…I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

Scientists recently discovered a relative of Tyrannosaurus rex that had feathers.  The new species is called Yutyrannus huali, which means “beautiful feathered tyrant”, and it lived 60 million years before T. Rex. At over 3000 pounds, it’s the largest feathered dinosaur discovered to date. Even so, its head and body were much smaller than T. Rex’s, according to Corwin Sullivan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. But if it was covered in feathers, could that mean that T. rex was feathered too?

CORWIN SULLIVAN – (Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing):

Our find perhaps makes it a little more likely that Tyrannosaurus did have some kind of feathering, in which case the mental image that people have of it would really need to change.

HIRSHON:

But Sullivan explains that Tyrannosaurus lived in a warmer climate than Yutyrannus, and may not have needed feathers for insulation. He adds that the feathers could also have been used for camouflage or for attracting a mate. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.

Artist's reconstruction of a group of Yutyrranus huali with feathers. (Brian Choo )
Category: Daily Show, Station DownloadTag: Animal Behavior, Biology, Paleontology & Dinosaurs
Previous Post:Techno Animal Roundup
Next Post:Gardening Birds

Sidebar

Radio Program Archives

Want to learn more about the brain? The environment? Here you can browse the topics that come up regularly on Science Update.

Search the Archives

Categories

  • Daily Show
  • Station Download
  • Weekly Show

Find By Tag

  • 2020
  • Acoustics & Sound
  • Aging
  • Animal Behavior
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy & Space
  • Biology
  • Brain Science
  • Bugs
  • Chemistry
  • Children & Families
  • cicadas
  • Climate & Weather
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics & Business
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Conservation
  • Genetics & Evolution
  • Geology
  • Marine Science
  • Materials Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine & Health
  • Microbiology
  • Nanotechnology
  • Nutrition & Food Science
  • Paleontology & Dinosaurs
  • Physics
  • Plants & Agriculture
  • Political Science
  • Reality Check
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Sports & Fitness
  • spotlight
  • Spotlight Bugs
  • Terrorism & War
  • Why Is It? Questions
  • Wildlife
  • Year in Review

Find By Date

Science Update
  • About Science Update
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Mayan Honeybee hives
House sparrow wearing top hat rides aboard a red fireworks rocket

Copyright © 2023 · Springtail Media LLC · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Pongos