Fossil Strengthens Dinosaur-Bird Link

discovery online,reuters ^ | feb-14-2002 | reuters

[green team 1999]

Fossil Strengthens Dinosaur-Bird Link

Feb. 14 — A 130 million-year-old newly discovered fossil of a small meat-eating dinosaur found in China is further proof of the evolutionary link between dinosaurs and birds, scientists say.
"This animal is not a direct ancestor to birds but it is a very close cousin. It is from a group called troodontids which is closely related to birds," Peter Makovicky of the Field Museum in Chicago said on Wednesday. The new dinosaur, called Sinovenator changii, was probably feathered and is almost the same age as the oldest known bird Archaeopteryx.

"The similarities in the skeleton between animals like Sinovenator and Archaeopteryx are very striking,"said Makovicky.

Sinovenator was a two-legged predator like the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex but it was the size of a large chicken with a skeleton less than three feet (one meter) long.

It had a bird-like shoulder joint, a wishbone and a pelvic bone that points backward, similar to modern birds and was found in the fossil beds in northeastern China's Liaoning Province, an area that has yielded other important fossils.

"It demonstrates that major structural modification toward birds occurred much earlier in the evolutionary process than previously thought," said Makovicky, who reported the findings in the science journal Nature.

Paleontologists have been strongly divided over whether birds evolved from dinosaurs. But Makovicky, who co-authored the Nature report with colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing and the American Museum of Natural History in New York, said the dinosaur fossil should resolve the issue.

"These findings help counter, once and for all, the position of paleontologists who argue that birds did not evolve from dinosaurs," he said.

EVOLUTIONARY TREE

Scientists weren't sure exactly where troodontids were placed in the evolutionary tree because they had features that are present in birds and others found in different dinosaur groups.

Sinovenator will help eliminate some of the confusion, said Makovicky, adding that the fossil also cuts the time gap between the appearance of birds and dinosaurs that are closely related to them.

"The discovery of Sinovenator is important because it is the earliest troodontid dinosaur yet discovered," said Dr. Mark Norell of the American Museum of Natural History.

"It is very close to the age of Archaeopteryx. This means that any perceived problem about differences in age between the origin of birds and the occurrence of small bird-like theropods disappears," he added in a statement.

Theropod dinosaurs, two legged predators such as Sinovenator, and birds have more than 100 similar anatomical features including a wishbone, swiveling wrists and three forward pointing toes.

"Our study suggests that dromaeosaurs (swift running theropods) and troodontids are each others' closest relatives and that those two groups share a close common ancestor with birds," said Makovicky.

for information and discusion only,not for profit etc,etc.

[Junior]

It's one of the more common creationists tactics.

[VadeRetro]

Is this *bird* the fake, done up fake in China for the money?

Such incredible eagerness! Again, no. Not even close.

[matthew_the_brain]

Hey Vade,

Peace, Love and GoGo Boots man.....when will you wilted flower children stop believing this non science?


Maybe it was all of that acid your kind did that affects your thinking.

[Junior]

dennisw

[VadeRetro]

It's one of the more common creationists tactics.

Everything old (that ever titillated a creationist) is new again!

[general_re]

You'll have to excuse me if I expect someone who gives himself the appellation "the brain" to do more than just provide his unsupported opinion. How about "matthew_the_assertion"?

[matthew_the_brain]

This myth must, of necessity, die hard, for even though the facts have utterly failed to support the theory since the time of Darwin himself, its proponents know that it is the only vital driving force behind the alternative to creation by God; and thus they scramble in every direction as needed to maintain this theoretical infrastructure which is the facade which supports their religion. For that is exactly what we are dealing with here, of course, and nothing less: a religion..

[Junior]

Gee, the guys actually doing the research in the field of biology and evolution don't think the evidence points to anything but Darwin definitely being in the ballpark. I can take the word of someone knows what he's talking about, or I can take the word of you, someone who obviously can't do anything but make unsupported assertions...

Hmmmm... tough call ...

[general_re]

This myth must, of necessity, die hard...

Good Lord, son - I also expect someone who styles himself "the brain" to not crib his arguments from somewhere else..

[VadeRetro]

From another thread, a few points about science for those who only think in terms of religion.

[Virginia-American]

Good work

[f.Christian]

Even theology/religion admits the mother of all science is philosophy---it is inescapable!


Evolution/ideology skips all three!

[Doctor Stochastic]

His FR page says: " I am the brain......period "; which make doesn't make the word into a colophon.

[Asclepius]

Apparently your confusion wasn't included in the "some" Sinovenator will help eliminate. Better luck next time.

You responded to the wrong person again. Apparently this medium really has you flummoxed.

[colorado tanker]

Looks like something out of a bad 1950's sci-fi flick. Night of the Killer Chicken!

[CalConservative]

On the other hand, an assertion is still better than posts like VadeRetro makes, where making personal attacks seems to substitute for factual debate. We can argue the "facts" all day and possibly never agree, but civil discourse should be the rule rather than the exception, even where we have strong disagreements.

[Gumlegs]

To: green team 1999

... Sinovenator will help eliminate some of the confusion ...

I'm still confused.

3 posted on 02/15/2002 9:30 PM EST by Asclepius

To: Asclepius

Apparently your confusion wasn't included in the "some" Sinovenator will help eliminate. Better luck next time.

32 posted on 11/21/2002 5:07 PM EST by Gumlegs

Apparently your confusion wasn't included in the "some" Sinovenator will help eliminate. Better luck next time.

You responded to the wrong person again. Apparently this medium really has you flummoxed.

55 posted on 11/21/2002 5:57 PM EST by Asclepius

I’ll admit that I tend to use a quill pen when I post to the net, but I believe I addressed the reply to the person who posted the confession of confusion. Or are you simply indicating you found my wisecrack less than ROTFLOL funny?

[Asclepius]

... I?ll admit that I tend to use a quill pen when I post to the net, but I believe I addressed the reply to the person who posted the confession of confusion. Or are you simply indicating you found my wisecrack less than ROTFLOL funny? ...

First, you have a lot of time on your hands. Good for you. Second, use that time to enroll yourself in an adult literacy course or something. I'm telling you have the wrong guy. Just bloody take my word for it and bugger off.

[Gumlegs]

The problem is that your charm and wit are so attractive.