# birds and dinasaurs **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 13, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-and-dinasaurs/399959 "2007-04-13T15:37:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-and-dinasaurs/399959/1 "2007-04-13T15:37:04Z")
[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070412/ap\_on\_sc/t\_rex\_birds;\_ylt=AvyqT13BAcIyWU0LquqnmFPMWM0F](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070412/ap_on_sc/t_rex_birds;_ylt=AvyqT13BAcIyWU0LquqnmFPMWM0F) Years ago the connection between birds and dinos was made. It was based on the bone and hip structure similarities. The evolution from dinos to birds was a long and gradual change. Now we have proteins collected from soft tissue of a T rex being decoded. The closest match is todays chicken. So go to KFC and order a bucket of Trex and a side of triceratops. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-and-dinasaurs/399959/2 "2007-04-13T16:49:07Z")
No debate, and not even a question. An interesting observation that would be most comfortable in **MPSIMS**. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-and-dinasaurs/399959/3 "2007-04-13T17:58:13Z")
The importance behind this particular bit of news isn’t really the whole dino-bird link (it’s just one more piece of evidence in the already-substantial pile); it’s the fact that fossilization doesn’t really destroy the whole organism in the process (it had previously been thought that there would be nothing left of the original material [except in very unusual circumstances], and that all you really had left was just rock). As such, it opens up a whole now realm of possibilities involving the DNA analysis of numerous extinct forms – not just the recently extinct, like dodos or mastadons, but even long-gone critters like dinosaurs or possibly even earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birds-and-dinasaurs/399959/4 "2007-04-13T18:09:40Z")
[QUOTE=Darwin’s Finch] The importance behind this particular bit of news isn’t really the whole dino-bird link (it’s just one more piece of evidence in the already-substantial pile); it’s the fact that fossilization doesn’t really destroy the whole organism in the process (it had previously been thought that there would be nothing left of the original material [except in very unusual circumstances], and that all you really had left was just rock). As such, it opens up a whole now realm of possibilities involving the DNA analysis of numerous extinct forms – not just the recently extinct, like dodos or mastadons, but even long-gone critters like dinosaurs or possibly even earlier. [/QUOTE] From the article in the Times on this, they were able to identify proteins, not DNA specifically. The bone was a very large one, buried under 70 feet of rock in Montana, and I believe covered almost instantly, so this was a best case. Still very exciting.