Unleashing a new, highly sensitive medical analyzer on fossilized bones, the scientists have for the first time determined the precise molecular code of a dinosaur protein.
The feat, long presumed impossible because so little protein is present in dinosaur remains, opens the door to a redrawing of the evolutionary tree - one based on molecular evidence instead of the crude comparisons of bone shapes and sizes that experts now rely on.
The first results, described in today's issue of the journal Science, show that T. Rex's collagen - the fibrous protein forming the scaffolding that supports minerals in bone - is extraordinarily similar to that of the modern chicken, confirming current thinking that dinosaurs' nearest cousins are birds.
- LA Times, Washington Post, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A close link between T-rex and a chicken seems counterintuitive.
It makes one wonder sometimes.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
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