"THE FLUFFENING" OF DINOSAURS

Back in the 50s, the "trend" to depict dinosaurs was as slow, tail-dragging, stupid lizards. We now know that this is far from the truth. Now, the "trend" is to put feathers on every dinosaur. EVERY dinosaur, regaurdless of logic or probability and presenting it as fact. Perhaps the "fluffening" as I call it is no different.

Before I start, I just want to say this: THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY BIAS I HAVE. I accept the fact that dromeosaurs, therozinosaurs, and other smaller theropods had feathers. IMO, feathered dinosaurs are more interesting to look at, and (in some cases) cooler! The only reason I'm about to say what I'm going to say is because I believe certain dinosaurs depicted with feathers are inaccurate. 

Let's start with a really hot-button topic. You knew it was coming. T. rex and feathers. Do I believe it? No. Why? Let me explain.

Many people assume that since Yutyrannus had feathers, that must mean that T. Rex, Albertosaurus, Gorgosaurus, Tarbosaurus, Daspletosaurus, and other large, advanced tyrannosaurs definetley had feathers as well. This is like someone who had never seen an elephant in their entire life saying "Mammoths had thick fur, so elephants must have had thick fur too!" Yutyrannus was a primitive tyrannosaur, and most (if not all) primitive tyrannosaurs had feathers. However, most primitive tyrannosaurs were small, but Yutyrannus is 30 feet long! Yutyrannus was more closley related with the small, fuzzy Dilong than the huge, intimidating Tyrannosaurus. This is where (I believe) people get mixed up. They think "A 30 foot long tyrannosaur covered in feathers head to toe? T. rex was almost certainly the same!".

There is  a massive flaw with this assumption that so many people miss. Yutyrannus lived in the Yixian Formation about 125 million years ago. The Yixian Formation (located in eastern China) was a region of high elevation, which means cooler temperatures. This region had an average yearly temperature of about 50 degrees fahrenheit. The winters there were harsh, possibly dipping into the 20s. The summers probably stayed around 60 to 70. This means that even a large dinosaur like Yutyrannus would have needed a "winter coat" to stay warm. Actually, many of the dinosaurs in Yutyrannus's time were feathered, such as Graciliraptor, Mei, Dilong, Tianyuraptor, Sinocalliopteryx, and Beipaosaurus. 

Where T. rex lived, the climate was much warmer and much more humid. This, paired with the fact that T. rex was considerably larger than Yutyrannus really makes T. rex deptictions like this: 

much less likely (by no means was that a bad piece of art, but it IS a little over-the-top). That fact paired with the fact that we have found skin impressions that show scales rather than feathers from Tyrannosaurus, Tarbosaurus, and other non-tyrannosaurs such as Allosaurus, Carnotaurus and Ceratosaurus. Although, most of these impressions are fragmentary. However...they DO show scales in places where Yutyrannus had feathers. 

Is it wrong to deptict T. rex and its close relatives with a little feathers on its arms or the back of its neck? No! But is it wrong to cover its entire body? Probably. This picture:

shows a tyrannosaur with a probable balance of feathers and scales. Just remember this: there is NO direct evidence showing that T. rex had any feathers at all, but there is much more evidence (in comparison) supporting the idea that T. rex was scaly.

Here is an article about feathers on dinosaurs OUTSIDE of the Tyrannosaur family. It kind of inspired me to write this and I completley agree with it. In short, it's a great summary of how I feel about this topic. Check it out: http://observationdeck.kinja.com/a-comprehensive-guide-to-dinosaur-feathers-and-scales-1603368757