The Link Between Dinosaurs and Birds :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

The Link Between Dinosaurs and Birds There have been many recent discoveries pertaining to the finding of dinosaurs. However, there has never been a link between dinosaurs and birds at least not like this before. There has been a discovery in China of a remarkable dinosaur with birdlike feathers on its hind legs and tail including others places. A man by the name of Henry Gee has been researching this topic since 1996 and has come up with new discoveries. This four-winged dinosaur has fueled debate over evolution of airborne birds. This subject has re ignited debate over and over again about the origins of birds including feathers and their flights. The researchers believe that this bird has been around for about 124 to about 145 million years. Researchers also believe that these birdlike animals belong to a new species called Microraptor gui, a stem from the previous species Microraptor. The discovery of the fossil was found in the beds of Liaoning Province of the northeast China. They have seemed to measure 77cm long in diameter and lived in trees and survived by using here wing spanned to glide through branches. These birds use inter limb skin flaps to leap from branch to branch. It has been stirring up questions about which extinct reptiles do birds really belong to. â€Å"Microraptor gui: Researchers are keen to study its hip and shoulders†(Gee). Its been finally agreed upon that dinosaurs, due to recent discoveries, are closely related to birds through there common ancestry To be more specific they are related to small birds carnivores called dromaeodaurs. This group of reptiles includes such names as Tyrannosaurus and others; they are all called theropods. To make an even clearer link between the two, theropods had feathers much like the birds during their time of existence. Theropods are called bipeds; bipeds have long back legs adapted for running. This includes them trying to excape from their enemies using tactics that help them to quickly climb trees. This adds to the hypothesis that birds evolved from a two-legged runner. Also there wings added to there thrust in running and helped in the elementary flight of young birds when trying to excape from enemies. Further discovery suggests when young birds learn to fly it helps for them to just fall out of a tree and let gravity take its course.