New Delhi: 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, says The Daily Mail.
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 have 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.
"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,” Milner told The Daily Mail.
The US 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 told the news daily: "For centuries it was believed that the process of fossilisation destroyed any original material (such as collagen).
"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."
With excerpts from The Daily Mail
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