April 13, 2007

Evolution in Action

Protein Analysis of T. Rex Bone Finds Link to Chickens:

“Unleashing a new, highly sensitive medical analyzer on fossilized bone from Tyrannosaurus rex, 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 rely on today.

“The first results, described in today’s issue of the journal Science, show that the collagen protein in T. rex bone is extraordinarily similar to that of the modern chicken, confirming current thinking that dinosaurs’ nearest cousins are birds.”

(I imagine that although there was probably a lot of good eating on a t.rex that they would have been hard to domesticate.)


Posted by Michael : April 13, 2007 08:53 AM | Science/Medicine | TechnoLinks
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(I imagine that although there was probably a lot of good eating on a t.rex that they would have been hard to domesticate.)

Not really. It just took 68 million years.....

Posted by: david s at April 13, 2007 09:22 AM


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