DanaC • Apr 12, 2007 7:55 pm
Protein extracted from 68 million-year-old T. rex bones has shed new light on the evolutionary link between dinosaurs and birds.
Researchers compared organic molecules preserved in the T. rex fossils with those of living animals, and found they were similar to chicken protein.
The discovery of protein in dinosaur bones is a surprise - organic material was not thought to survive this long.
A US team of researchers have published the finding in Science journal.
The team says their technique could help reveal evolutionary relationships between other living and extinct organisms.
The finding is consistent with the idea that birds can trace a direct evolutionary line to dinosaurs
What I found totally fascinating about this, isn't so much that T-Rex has similarities to chicken.....we've known about birds being the likely descendants of dinosaurs for a fair while now...but the fact that they managed to find testable soft tissues in dinosaur remains. That blows my mind.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6548719.stm