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Proof that fearsome T-Rex evolved
into a chicken
FIONA MACRAE
UK
Daily Mail
Friday April 13, 2007
Palaeontologists have long accepted that birds are a form of dinosaur.
Now the theory that the most feared dinosaur of all, Tyrannosaurus
Rex, evolved into the modern-day chicken has been given scientific
backing with the discovery of some pre-historic collagen.
The protein - responsible for giving skin its elasticity and bone
its structure - is nowadays more readily associated with dinosaurs
of the aging celebrity kind.
But scientists were surprised to discover traces in a 68million-year-old
fossilised T-rex thighbone - supporting the belief expounded by
Charles Darwin in his influential On The Origin Of Species By Means
Of Natural Selection published nearly 150 years ago.
Analysis of the collagen has, they say, provided genetic proof
of a link to chickens, with both sharing remarkably similar bone
structure.
The collagen, from a bone unearthed in the U.S. state of Montana
four years ago, also bore resemblance to that found in frogs and
newts.
British palaeontologist Dr Angela Milner, of the National History
Museum, said the unusual discovery had been made possible by the
remarkable preservation of the particular fossil. She said: "This
corroborates a huge body of evidence from the fossil record that
demonstrates birds are made from meat-eating dinosaurs.
"The analysis shows that T-Rex collagen make-up is almost
identical to that of a modern chicken.
"The fact that identifiable proteins can be removed has opened
up an exciting new field of investigation that may tell us more
about patterns and rates of evolution from the past to the present."
The U.S. researchers' findings, reported in the journal Science,
provide the first hard genetic evidence for the theory that birds
evolved from dinosaurs.
Researcher Dr Mary Schweitzer, of North Carolina State University,
said: "For centuries it was believed that the process of fossilisation
destroyed any original material (such as collagen).
"Consequently no one looked carefully at really old bones.
"This data will help us learn more about dinosaurs' evolutionary
relationships, about how preservation happens, and about how molecules
degrade over time, which could also have some important medical
implications for treating disease."
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