User blog comment:BastionMonk/No feathers in JPIV/@comment-1791057-20130322165614

Mesmeret, the pics you added to the post are not only ugly, they're in accurate. So far, this is the extent of integument we know due to phylogeny and fossil evidence. Tyrannosauroid phylogeny says that Tyrannosaurus had some form of filamentous integument, likely protofeathers that would have been reminiscent to hair in appearance. Fossil evidence shows that they had mosaic scales, only we don't know where. Without going too far into speculation (the ridge over the nose, like that of the JP T. rex, is speculated from evidence of ridges on some specimens of Tyrannosaurus such as "Stan"), that image is pretty much what T. rex looked like. If JP4 were to have gone into feathered dinosaurs and included T. rex, the linked image would likely have been what we'd have seen. Likewise, this is what an accurately feathered deinonychosaurian would have looked like. The one you posted is what is known in the paleo community as being a "gorilla suit" in that it's nothing more than an outdated Raptor with some feathers glued to it. On deinonychosauria, the integument over the forelimbs runs all the way up along the second phalange, and possesses primary feathers like that of most extant maniraptora. Also, with the entire manus, it's pronated. Most, if not all, dinosaurs were incapable of pronating their manus and, for the most part,were locked in a supinated position. A real deinonychosaur would have to break it's own arm to get it in that position. Finally, the caudial integument is innacurate. Fossil evidence shows that deinonychosauria would have had very extensive caudial feathering, and would have sported a fan of caudial feathers, like that of many extant maniraptora.