T-rex fossils indicate strong dinosaur link to birds

[Ian David]

Thu Jun 2, 6:40 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Tissue found inside a nearly 70 million year old Tyrannosaurus rex femur strengthens the theory that today's birds are direct descendants from the dinosaurs, according to a study in the journal Science.

An analysis of tissue found inside the femur suggests a high likelihood that the remains belong to a female T-Rex ready to lay eggs, said Mary Schweitzer, a paleontologist with the University of North Carolina, writing in the June 3 edition of the journal.

The tissue -- the first ever discovered inside a dinosaur fossil -- is very similar to medullar tissue found inside the bones of female ratite birds, such as ostriches and emus, that are about to lay eggs, she said.

This tissue is rich in calcium, providing minerals for the egg shell -- minerals that would otherwise be drawn from the bird's other bones to the point of weakening them.

More:
http://tinyurl.com/79ob5

[tavalon]

1. So this is new information?

I thought it was old news that birds are descended from dinosaurs. I'm guessing this is just extra proof?

[Tesha]

4. As with so many theories...

> I thought it was old news that birds are descended from dinosaurs.

This may only rise to the level of hypothesis right now, but
regardless...)

As with all other scientific theories, there's a hidden "Confidence
factor" number right next to it. As you observed, this new test raises
that confidence factor, but the factor still isn't so high that
scientists are completely accepting of the theory yet, although it
certainly seems to be gaining ground.

Tesha

[Ediacara]

5. The article sort of misses the point

Birds as dinosaur descendants is probably one of the most well supported transitional series in all of the fossil record, as good as the ancestry of mammals from "reptiles" and as good as the ancestry of humans from non-human apes. What Mary and Jack found was that this particular dinosaur had what was probably medulary bone tissue.

Medulary bone tissue is:
1) Only found in birds
2) Only found in FEMALE birds
3) Only formed immediately before egg laying as a calcium store.

So in other words, this particular dinosaur was (probably) a female that was about to lay eggs right before she died.

What they discovered was a pretty certain way to determine the actual sex of a dinosaur (in this case, female). There is sexual dimorphism in dinosaurs, but assigning a sex to one type or another is a guessing game. With the pretty lucky finding of medulary bone tissue in this particular Tyrannosaurus, we've found a way that we may determine the true sex of sexually dimorphic species.

[Drifter]

2. Boy ... God is really putting one over on those scientists ...

Dinosaurs ... HA HA HA ...

Don't these idiots know that the Earth is only 6000 years old, and the stuff they are finding is made by God, Not Dinosaurs.

Cheers
Drifter

[Goblinmonger]

3. Or the devil

He's tempting them to turn their back on God.

[kineneb]

6. I could have guessed that by looking at my pet chicken!

Since Henrietta is quite tame, she lets me pick her up and pet her. And her feet look very reptilian, with impressively strong claws. My friend calls her chickens "miniture velociraptors."

over and out from the "farm"