Dilong

†Dilong ('emperor dragon') is an extinct basal tyrannosauroid theropod from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China. Roughly 1.6 m long, this small carnivore is among the earliest known feathered tyrannosauroids, providing direct evidence that the tyrannosaurid lineage ancestrally bore filamentous feathers. It illuminates the origins of the tyrannosaur body plan.

Diet & Feeding

Carnivore

Dilong was a meat-eating predator. Carnivorous dinosaurs were active hunters or scavengers, equipped with sharp teeth and claws for catching and consuming prey. They occupied the top of the food chain in their ecosystems.

Time Period

Cretaceous Early Mesozoic Era

Dilong lived during the Cretaceous Early period of the Mesozoic Era, approximately 145.0 to 100.5 million years ago.

The Cretaceous saw continued dinosaur evolution with the rise of ornithopods and early ceratopsians. Flowering plants first appeared and began to transform terrestrial ecosystems. Spinosaurus and other large theropods lived during this time.