Tests Confirm T. Rex Kinship With Birds
NYT:
T. rex shared more of its genetic makeup with ostriches and chickens than with living reptiles, like alligators. On this basis, the research team has redrawn the family tree of major vertebrate groups, assigning the dinosaur a new place in evolutionary relationships.One of the researchers cited in the article about the molecular study of dinosaur tissue was named Dr. Organ.
Similar molecular tests on tissues from the extinct mastodon confirmed its close genetic link to the elephant, as had been suspected from skeletal affinities.
"Our results at the genetic level basically agree with what has been seen in skeletal data," John M. Asara of Harvard said in a telephone interview. "There is more than a 90 percent probability that the grouping of T. rex with living birds is real."
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