Mia Patel
Tyrannosaurus rex, meet the chicken – your third cousin more than 100 million years removed. This surprising kinship was confirmed by a 2008 study that compared sequences of a collagen protein recovered from a 68-million-year-old T. rex fossil with those from 21 modern animals, including chickens. The results showed that T. rex's collagen was most similar to chickens, followed by ostriches and alligators. This provided the first molecular evidence for the long-suspected evolutionary link between dinosaurs and birds. So, did the T. rex actually evolve into a chicken? While it's true that chickens are descendants of meat-eating dinosaurs like the T. rex, it's not accurate to say that T. rexes evolved into chickens. Instead, they share a common ancestor, and both have evolved and adapted over time, leading to the chickens we know today.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Tyrannosaurus rex kinship with chickens | Confirmed |
| Type of analysis | Molecular analysis |
| Type of protein | Collagen |
| Number of modern species compared | 21 |
| Number of peptides | 6 |
| Number of amino acids | 89 |
| T. rex's closest living relatives | Birds such as chickens and ostriches |
| T. rex's relationship with birds | Better than with modern reptiles |
| T. rex's relationship with modern reptiles | Poor |
| T. rex's relationship with alligators | Close |
| T. rex's relationship with green anole lizards | Poor |
| T. rex's relationship with mastodons | Close |
| Mastodons' relationship with elephants | Close |
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What You'll Learn
T. rex and chickens are third cousins
Tyrannosaurus rex, meet the chicken – your third cousin more than 100 million years removed. A new family tree based on protein sequences recovered from dinosaur fossils confirms the dinosaur’s avian lineage.
Palaeontologists have known of this overall connection for some time, but it has now been confirmed with molecular data. A team led by John Asara, a biochemist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, compared sequences of a collagen protein recovered from a 68-million-year-old T. rex fossil and a half-million-year-old mastodon with those same sequences from 21 modern animals – including chicken, alligator, elephant, and human.
The collagen analysed was collected from a T. rex bone found in Montana. Asara says, "What makes it possible is that it’s exceptionally well preserved. You can’t walk into a museum and take a bone off a T. rex."
The results suggest that T. rex, in fact, grouped with birds — ostrich and chicken — better than any other organism studied. They also show that T. rex groups better with birds than modern reptiles, such as alligators and green anole lizards.
While scientists had long suspected that birds, and not basal reptiles, are dinosaurs’ closest living relatives, for years that hypothesis rested largely on morphological similarities in bird and dinosaur skeletons. The scraps of dinosaur protein were obtained from a fossil femur discovered in 2003 by John Horner of the Museum of the Rockies in a barren fossil-rich area spanning Wyoming and Montana.
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Molecular analysis confirms the link between T. rex and birds
Tyrannosaurus rex, or T. rex, is closely related to modern-day birds, including chickens and ostriches, according to research published in the journal Science. The study, which used molecular analysis to compare T. rex with 21 modern species, found that the dinosaur shares common ancestry with these birds, as well as with alligators to a lesser extent.
The research provides the first molecular evidence for the long-suspected hypothesis that birds, rather than basal reptiles, are the closest living relatives of dinosaurs. This hypothesis had previously been based on morphological similarities in bird and dinosaur skeletons. The new study, published in the Harvard Gazette and conducted by a team from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Harvard Medical School (HMS), used mass spectrometry to sequence tiny pieces of collagen protein from T. rex and compare them with collagen protein from several dozen species.
According to John Asara, a biochemist at BIDMC and HMS who led the study, the team compared sequences of a collagen protein recovered from a 68-million-year-old T. rex fossil and a half-million-year-old mastodon with those same sequences from 21 modern animals, including chicken, alligator, elephant, and human. The collagen analysed was collected from a T. rex bone found in Montana, and its exceptional preservation made the study possible.
The results of the molecular analysis confirmed that T. rex grouped with birds better than with any other organism studied, including modern reptiles such as alligators and lizards. The study also reported that similar analysis of collagen protein sequences from mastodon bone established a close phylogenetic relationship between that extinct species and modern elephants, further supporting the accuracy of using molecular data to trace the evolution of species.
While the research provides strong evidence for the evolutionary link between T. rex and birds, some palaeontologists have questioned the usefulness of molecular trees compared to traditional methods of studying bones. However, the molecular analysis of T. rex and its links to modern-day birds is a significant contribution to the field, providing new insights into the evolution of dinosaurs and their relationship to other species.
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T. rex fossils contain collagen similar to chickens
Tyrannosaurus rex fossils contain collagen that is similar to chickens, confirming the link between dinosaurs and birds. This discovery was made by a team led by John Asara, a biochemist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, who compared collagen protein sequences from a 68-million-year-old T. rex fossil with those of 21 modern animals, including chickens.
The analysis revealed that the T. rex shared more collagen similarities with birds like chickens and ostriches than with modern reptiles like alligators and lizards. This provided the first molecular evidence for the evolutionary relationship between non-avian dinosaurs and birds, supporting the long-held hypothesis based on morphological similarities.
The collagen analysed was collected from a T. rex bone found in Montana, which was exceptionally well-preserved, allowing for the successful extraction and sequencing of the protein. This discovery has significant implications for understanding the evolution of dinosaurs and their relationship to modern-day animals.
Further study of T. rex collagen and other samples is ongoing and may provide additional insights into the evolution of dinosaurs and their connection to birds. Mary Schweitzer, a palaeontologist at North Carolina State University who helped discover the Montana T. rex fossil, has expressed excitement about the potential for future research on this dinosaur.
While the link between T. rex and chickens has been confirmed, it is important to clarify that T. rex did not directly evolve into chickens. Instead, they share a common ancestry, with chickens being the closest living relatives of the T. rex among modern-day birds. This discovery contributes to our understanding of the evolutionary tree and the relationships between extinct and extant species.
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T. rex and chickens share physical characteristics
Tyrannosaurus rex, meet the chicken – your third cousin more than 100 million years removed. A new family tree based on protein sequences recovered from dinosaur fossils confirms that dinosaurs share common ancestry with chickens, ostriches, and to a lesser extent, alligators.
The closest living relatives of Tyrannosaurus rex are birds such as chickens and ostriches, according to research published in Science. Paleontologists used material discovered in a chance find in 2003 to pin down the link. The dinosaur-ness of birds has been suspected for many years based on anatomical similarities, but the new research is the first molecular evidence.
Molecular analysis of a shred of 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex protein—along with that of 21 modern species—confirms that dinosaurs share common ancestry with chickens. Scientists compared the dinosaur version with 21 living animals, including humans, chimps, mice, chickens, ostriches, alligators, and salmon. T. rex's collagen proved to be most similar to chickens and ostriches.
Even before discovering the evidence from the fossil, some scientists observed that chickens and the T-Rex had similar characteristics. Both chickens and T-Rex walk on two legs, have scaly feet with sharp claws, and both have an arched neck with a big head. There was proof that some of these dinosaurs even had feathers covering their bodies and bird-like lungs.
Chickens are unique animals that need to be properly cared for when owned. Whether you have free-range poultry, a chicken coop, or a chicken farm, make sure that you’re keeping your animals safe and provided for.
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Chickens are descendants of meat-eating dinosaurs
In 2003, John "Jack" Horner of the Museum of the Rockies discovered a T. rex fossil in a barren fossil-rich area spanning Wyoming and Montana. This fossil was exceptionally well preserved, containing connective tissues with collagen, a structural protein that appears in slightly different forms in many animals. By comparing the collagen sequences in the fossil with those of 21 modern animals, scientists were able to establish a close relationship between T. rex and birds, including chickens and ostriches.
The collagen analysis confirmed that T. rex shared common ancestry with chickens and ostriches, and to a lesser extent, alligators. This provided the first molecular evidence for the evolutionary relationships of a non-avian dinosaur. Further study of the T. rex collagen and other samples could help scientists better understand the evolution of dinosaurs and the specific path that led to modern-day chickens.
While chickens did not evolve directly from T. rex, they are part of the same dinosaur family. Birds are believed to have evolved from a group of dinosaurs called theropods, which included both large carnivores like T. rex and smaller coelurosaurs. Over millions of years, gradual changes in this dinosaur family led to the development of modern birds, including chickens.
The discovery of the T. rex-chicken evolutionary link has added to the growing body of evidence supporting the theory that modern birds are the descendants of dinosaurs. This theory was initially based on anatomical similarities between bird and dinosaur skeletons, but the molecular analysis of the T. rex fossil provided the first concrete evidence of this relationship. So, while chickens may not have evolved directly from T. rex, they are indeed distant cousins of these fearsome meat-eating dinosaurs.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, the Tyrannosaurus rex is the chicken's third cousin, removed by more than 100 million years.
In 2003, a unique fossil of the T-Rex was discovered with soft tissue intact, allowing scientists to extract enough DNA for research. The proteins found in the DNA of the T-Rex were most like those of the chicken.
Both chickens and T-Rex walk on two legs, have scaly feet with sharp claws, and both have an arched neck with a big head. There was also proof that some dinosaurs had feathers covering their bodies and bird-like lungs.
In addition to chickens, ostriches are also related to the T-Rex.
The discovery confirms the theory that birds evolved from dinosaurs and are technically living dinosaurs. It also shows that dinosaurs were not cold-blooded and slow-moving as previously believed, but quick, smart, and birdlike.
