Talk:Tyrannosauridae

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According to the article about the tyrannosaur Dilong, it measures 1,6 m and the newly discovered Guanlong is 3 m long. But this article states that tyrannosaurids are between 8 and 14 m long. Likewise both these dinosaurs are found in China which isn't named under location. Isfisk 08:12, 9 February 2006 (UTC)

There is no contradiction as Dilong and Gualong are tyrannosauroids, not tyrannosaurids.--MWAK 14:49, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

Contents 1 Title 2 Not birds 3 Maximum size 4 Aublysodontidae & Shanshanosauridae

[edit] Title

Obviously this page is being used to discuss tyrannosaurs in general, not just Family Tyrannosauridae. Maybe it should be moved to "Tyrannosaur" or "Tyrannosauroidea"? (the former would be preferable since it's the common name for tyrannosauroid)Dinoguy2 17:53, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

But then we replace an exact defined scientific concept by a very vague one. Do Dilong and Guanlong conform to the public perception of a tyrannosaur? Probably not. Do the experts consistently refer to all tyrannosauroids as "tyrannosaurs"? Not really. The obvious solution seems to be to have simply two articles, one for Tyrannosauridae and one for Tyrannosauroidea, as these are two distinct concepts. And the very fact that these concepts are often confused is proof of this :o).--MWAK 09:44, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

Good point. I'll see what I can whip up for Tyrannosauroidea, feel free to pitch in everyone.Dinoguy2 18:29, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Not birds

Birds have hollow bones, special breathing sacs, feathers, and relatively large, strong forelimbs. Tyrannosaurs have marrow-filled bones, no signs of feathers or avian lungs, and forelimbs so tiny they are laughable. Those forelimbs are so small that they MUST have moved slowly, b/c there's no chance they could catch themselves if they tripped while running!! And with skulls that huge, hitting their chins on the ground is not inconvenient, it's fatal! Mdotley 13:34, 12 September 2006 (UTC) http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg14819982.600-the-bigger-they-come-the-harder-they-fall.html

• What is your point? SpectrumDT 20:47, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Kiwi have tiny nubbins where the forelimbs used to be, just FYI.Dinoguy2 01:45, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Tyrannosaurs, and indeed all theropods, were extremely likely to have had air sacs (http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~ridgely/OconnorClaessensairsacs.pdf), and given their relatively crown-ward taxanomic position those air sacs were probably fairly advanced. Also, basal tyrannosauroids (Dilong paradoxus) have been found with 'protofeathers' (fluff), and so it's fairly likely that all tyrannosaurs had some kind of feathers, maybe not the larger ones at adult size because of overheating problems. The running thing, small arms has nothing to do with it really (ostriches do just fine), but with the bigger ones just being huge would have caused them severe problems with running fast (see http://www.rvc.ac.uk/AboutUs/Staff/jhutchinson/documents/JRH17.pdf) - unsuprisingly, a ~6 tonne biped has support issues.

[edit] Maximum size

The various articles on Tyrannosaurs are ambiguous about the maximum size. The Tyrannosaurus rex article sets maximum length of a T. rex to 13 metres. But this article says 14 metres. Unless there are Tyrannosaurids larger than Mr. Rex (which I don't think there are), this is a discrepancy.

Also, I would like some more comments on these numbers. Are they measured from complete (or nearly complete) specimens, or are they reconstructed guesses? SpectrumDT 20:43, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

The largest Tyrannosaurus skull measuring over 1.5 meters (5 ft) long.where largest spinosaurus skull is 1.7 meters (5.749 ft) long and they estimate its length approximately 18 meters scientifically whose skeleton of body frame is not present. similarly The largest Tyrannosaurus skull measuring over 1.5 meters (5 ft) long whose body frame is not present and its skull is greater than Sue so its length will be more than 14 meters (47 ft). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.27.146.254 (talk) 12:20, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Aublysodontidae & Shanshanosauridae

Are these families really synonyms of Tyrannosauridae? Seems like they would actually be synonyms of Aublysodon (therefore Tyrannosaurus) and Shanshanosaurus (therefore Tarbosaurus?), unless someone actually tried to include all of the known tyrannosaurids in those families. Then again, maybe someone did. Sheep81 (talk) 23:24, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

The way the ICZN works, I don't think a family can be synonymous with a genus. Since there's no problem with monotypic families under ICZN, if the type of a family is referred to a different family with seniority, the families become synonyms the same way a type species, referred to a new genus, sinks the old genus into the new. E.g., Brontosaurus is a synonym of the genus Apatosaurus, not the species A. excelsus, even though nobody ever tried to incorporate all Apatosaurus species into Brontosaurus. Dinoguy2 (talk) 20:37, 9 March 2008 (UTC)