From the North came the Furry Tyrannosaurs

Yutyrannus huali, the newly described giant feathered tyrannosauroid.

The title is a quote from a comic book story "Flesh" from 1977. Turns out there actually were furry tyrannosaurs in the north after all!

Yutyrannus lived during the Early Cretaceous in what is now China. The Yixian formation, from which the fossils of the new theropod were found, is famous for its beautifully preserved fossils, often with soft tissues such as fur or feathers.

At 9 meters long, Yutyrannus is the largest known dinosaur with feather impressions found so far. Importantly, it shows that even large species could be feathered. There's now one reason less to draw scaly Tyrannosaurus rexes.

The Yixian area at the time was temperate, yearly average temperatures being around 10 C. Freezing temperatures and snowfall during winter wouldn't have been very rare.

It has been suggested that later analyses might show Yutyrannus is actually a carchantodontosaur instead of a tyrannosaur. If it's true, it would be a major new piece of evidence in favor of early origin of feathers, since carchantodontosaurs are much more distant relatives to birds than tyrannosaurs.

We live in interesting times.