Paleontologists have discovered a new species of giant, feathered dinosaur, distantly related to Tyrannosaurus rex.

It's called Yutyrannus huali -- "beautiful feathered tyrant" -- and it might be the largest feathered animal to have walked the Earth.

Yutyrannus remains dated to 125 million years ago were found in northeastern China, and researchers estimate that the dinosaur would have measured 30 feet long and weighed 1.5 tons -- 1/5th the weight of a T. rex.

Its "protofeathers," believed to be similar to the down of a baby chick, probably covered its entire body and were likely used for warmth during the extra-chilly first half of the Cretaceous period.

Researchers are currently studying the fossil evidence for clues about the color of the dinosaur's feathers.

[natgeo]

Paleontologists have identified two new dinosaur species that may fill in evolutionary gaps, showing that small horned dinosaurs known as leptoceratopsids, related to the triceratops, probably evolved in North America.

The new dinosaurs, gryphoceratops and unescoceratops, were first discovered years ago in southern Alberta, Canada, but have just recently been confirmed as distinct species.

Gryphoceratops, a six-foot-long, 200-pound dinosaur, lived about 83 million years ago. That makes it the oldest known leptoceratopsid specimen in North America. Unescoceratops, a slightly smaller herbivore, is believed to have roamed Alberta 75 million years ago.

"Although horned dinosaurs originated in Asia, our analysis suggests that leptoceratopsids radiated to North America and diversified here, with the new species, gryphoceratops, being the earliest record of the group on this continent," said paleontologist Michael J. Ryan, one of the authors of a paper on the new dinosaurs.

Co-author David Evans, of the University of Toronto, said the discovery was especially significant because of the dinosaurs' small size.

"Small-bodied dinosaurs are typically poorly represented in the fossil record," he said, "which is why fragmentary remains like these new leptoceratopsids can make a big contribution to our understanding of dinosaur ecology and evolution."

[canada]

Fleas in the Jurassic era were more than eight times larger than their modern equivalents, measuring up to an inch long, according to a team of researchers in China.

Recently-discovered fossil evidence suggests that the giant fleas had a long, saw-like proboscis that allowed for feeding on large Jurassic animals. They may even have been able to penetrate the hides of some dinosaurs.

"This thing was packing a weapon. They were equipped to dig into something," said Michael Engel, one of the authors of a paper on the flea fossils.

Unlike modern fleas, though, they had to get around by crawling, because their legs weren't yet developed enough for jumping.

The flea fossils are the oldest currently on record, dating from between 125 million and 165 million years ago.

[ap]