# Yutyrannus huali

> A large early tyrannosauroid from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning, China, covered in long filament-like feathers. At about a tonne and a half it is the largest dinosaur with direct evidence of feathers.

- Classification: Dinosauria (clade) > Saurischia (clade) > Theropoda (clade) > Coelurosauria (clade) > Tyrannosauroidea (superfamily) > Yutyrannus (genus) > Yutyrannus huali (species)
- Length: 9 m
- Hip height: 1.9–2.3 m
- Mass: 1.4 t
- Age: 125.8–119.6 million years ago (Early Cretaceous)
- Fossils found in: Yixian Formation (Liaoning); China
- Diet: carnivore
- Described: Xu Xing et al., 2012

Canonical page: https://dinodex.club/dinosaurs/yutyrannus-huali
Last updated: 2026-09-27

## Overview

Yutyrannus huali lived in north-eastern China in the Early Cretaceous, in the Yixian Formation of Liaoning. Xu Xing and colleagues named it in 2012 from three nearly complete skeletons of two growth stages, said to come from a quarry near Batuyingzi, Beipiao.

It was a primitive relative of Tyrannosaurus, with a skull like later tyrannosauroids but three fingers on each hand. All three skeletons show long, simple filamentous feathers, up to about 20 cm long, on several parts of the body.

It was the first direct evidence that a gigantic dinosaur was extensively feathered, which opened the question of whether later giant tyrannosaurs such as T. rex also had feathers. The Yixian climate is reconstructed as relatively cool, which may have favoured an insulating coat.

## Name meaning

"Beautiful feathered tyrant", from Mandarin yǔ ("feather") and Greek tyrannos ("tyrant"), with huáli ("beautiful") for the plumage (Xu et al. 2012).

## Sources

1. (2026). Paleobiology Database: Yutyrannus occurrences. The Paleobiology Database (paleobiodb.org), data service 1.2, accessed 2026-09-23. https://paleobiodb.org/data1.2/occs/list.txt?base_name=Yutyrannus&show=coords,paleoloc,strat,loc,ref&pgm=gplates
2. (2026). Wikipedia: Yutyrannus. Wikipedia (English), accessed 2026-09-23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yutyrannus
3. Paul, G. S. (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (2nd edition). Princeton University Press.
4. Xu, X., Wang, K., Zhang, K., Ma, Q., Xing, L., Sullivan, C., Hu, D., Cheng, S. & Wang, S. (2012). A gigantic feathered dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China. Nature 484: 92-95. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10906

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Cite as: "Yutyrannus huali". DinoDex. https://dinodex.club/dinosaurs/yutyrannus-huali (updated 2026-09-27).