Dinosaur-like snouts grown on chicken embryos

cbc ^

[BenLurkin]

Birds are thought to have evolved from dinosaurs, but have very different jaws. Bird-like dinosaurs such as the velociraptor have two bones at the tip of their upper jaws. In birds, those bones are fused to form a beak.

By blocking two proteins that are activated when chicken embryos grow their beaks, U.S. researchers caused their jaws to "revert" to a velociraptor-like snout. The changes were observed in chick embryos that developed until they were close to hatching.

To their surprise, the birds' palates, on the roof of their mouths, also became dinosaur-like.

"This was unexpected and demonstrates the way in which a single, simple developmental mechanism can have wide-ranging and unexpected effects," said Bhart-Anjan Bhullar, lead author of the study, in a statement from Yale University

...

It's not the first time chicken embryos have been reverted to produce a dinosaur-like trait — in 2006, German scientists identified a genetic mutation that causes chicken embryos to grow teeth.

[curmudgeonII]

I hope they bring back some dinosaurs. Think of potential for hunting. I would love a t-rex trophy mount.

What makes you think that you would not end up as a trophy in the den of some T. rex?

[MrB]

Chickens ARE carnivorous... omnivorous.
They turn table scraps into tasty eggs.

[null and void]

alchemy can”t be far behind.

Alchemy is a standard industrial process.

I'm not kidding.

[Pelham]

I’ll see your pit bull and raise you one velociraptor chicken.

[kitchen]

[John O]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnosaur_(film)

[GeronL]

bump

[Jaded]

They mutilated a chicken embryo and called it useful science/proof of evolution? Makes my heggake.

[4yearlurker]

All chickens are carnivorous. I worked huge egg farms growing up in South Jersey and I saw chickens eat other chickens. Any chicken that was injured was done for. The others would attack it and tear it apart.