What you thought you knew about dinosaurs might be wrong
It’s been millions of years since dinosaurs roamed the Earth, so studying them comes with plenty of challenges. However, scientists have uncovered some surprising insights about these ancient creatures, including their living relatives today.
If you assumed the closest animals to dinosaurs are reptiles, you’re not alone. Many people would likely make that guess. But, as it turns out, that isn’t entirely accurate.
In fact, when most of us think about dinosaurs, our minds might go to blockbuster movies instead of the scientific research that continues to uncover fascinating details about these ancient creatures.
For example, the mention of a T-Rex probably conjures images straight out of Steven Spielberg’s iconic Jurassic Park films. But the reality of what dinosaurs were like might be very different from what Hollywood has shown us.
Contrary to popular belief, scientists no longer think dinosaurs resembled dark, scaly reptiles. Research has suggested that their closest living relatives are actually birds.
And while this might sound groundbreaking to some, it’s worth noting that this idea isn’t particularly new in the world of science. Experts have been piecing this together for some time now.
The T-Rex has long been depicted looking reptilian in popular media
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How Was the Study Conducted?
In 2008, researchers carried out a molecular analysis on a fragment of 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex protein. They then compared it with a wide variety of proteins from different living animals to see what they could uncover.
Extracting dinosaur proteins is no easy task since these creatures have been extinct for millions of years. However, scientists were fortunate to find some unfossilized material inside a T-Rex bone, giving them a rare opportunity to study its makeup.
From that sample, they managed to retrieve molecules of collagen—a structural protein that exists in slightly different forms across various species.
To explore evolutionary connections, they compared the dinosaur’s collagen molecules with those of 21 living species, including humans, chimps, mice, chickens, ostriches, alligators, and even salmon.
The findings revealed that while proteins from alligators were a relatively close match, the best matches came from chickens and ostriches. This discovery added weight to the idea that birds, not reptiles, are the closest living relatives of dinosaurs.
Interestingly, chickens and ostriches are only distantly related to one another. So while the study narrowed down the connection to birds, it left room for more exploration regarding which specific bird species share the closest ties to dinosaurs.
You are basically eating great descendant of the T-rex
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What Did the Scientists Conclude?
Chris Organ, a co-author of the study and postdoctoral researcher in organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard University, explained that more work would be needed to refine our understanding of the evolutionary links between birds like chickens and ostriches, and dinosaurs.
He noted: “From T. rex, we were able to establish these relationships with a relatively high degree of support. With more data, we’d likely see the T. rex branch on the phylogenetic tree between alligators and chickens and ostriches, though we can’t resolve this position with currently available data.”