Dilong paradoxus

The somewhat ironically named emperor dragon (or does the 'paradoxus' bit hang a sign on the irony? I'm so confused), this small 1.6m long critter is, like so many "coelurid" grade basal coelurosaurs, hard to place in the theropod family tree. It's famous for being a potential ancestor of T. rex, or at least part of its lineage, the Deinodontoidea (forget that johnny come lately name Tyrannosauroidea! ). It's similar to coelurids like Coelurus and Tanycolagreus, which may themselves be on the Tyrannosauroids (but if they are, they're actually Coeluroids. Unless you break down and accept that they're all Deinodontoids. I really do love taxonomy).

The coloration here is inspired a bit by the related Sinosauropteryx, but no studies have been done to figure out it's real hues yet. I also gave it feathers on its metatarsus like the similar and larger Sinocalliopteryx, also a potential deinodontoid. Or compsognathid. Or both.

The little tuft at the end of the tail is NOT based on fossil evidence as I had assumed, it seems to have been artistic license added to the original skeletal, presumably based on the rectrical fans of maniraptorans. But it still looks kinda cool so I'm keeping it I've seen some nice recons that use a somewhat similar black or gray color scheme to this one with added flashes of bright red, which looks really cool, but I'm not prepared to accept a Dilong omnivorous enough to be going around eating the fruiting bodies of yews or something to acquire the necessary caratenoid pigments.