In Depth
Guanlong is well-known among palaeontological circles as the first tyrannosaur, although new discoveries in the future may take this epithet away from Guanlong. The discovery of Guanlong lends support to the theory that the early origins of the tyrannosaurs can be traced back to Asia. From here fossil evidence from the discovery of Stokesosaurus indicates that they primarily radiated towards North America, although it’s possible that they also spread in the opposite direction to Europe.
One thing that Guanlong is arguably more famous for is its elaborate head crest, the inspiration for Guanlong’s name ‘crown lizard’. This crest rose up from the snout between the nostrils and eyes and curved over in an arc above the back of the skull. Study of the crests has revealed that they were very fragile, confirming the notion that they were only for display. As such the crests were probably a different colour to the rest of the body, and may have increased in colour intensity as Guanlong reached breeding condition
Further Reading
– A basal tyrannosauroid dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of China – Nature 439 (7077): 715–718. – X. Xu, J. M. Clark, C. A. Forster, M. A. Norell, G. M. Erickson, D. A. Eberth, C. Jia & Q. Zhao – 2006.
