Study: Dinosaurs "Shrank" Regularly To Become Birds

An anonymous reader writes A new study suggests that large dinosaurs shrunk to small birds to survive over a period of around 50 million years. Aside from a few large species, most modern birds are predominantly tiny and look nothing at all like their prehistoric meat-eating ancestors. The evolutionary process that governed this transformation has not been well understood, but now researchers from the University of Adelaide in Australia have put together a detailed family tree mapping the evolution of therapod dinosaurs to the agile flying birds we see today. Their results indicated that meat-eating dinosaurs underwent several distinct periods of miniaturization over the last 50 million years which took them down from an average weight of 163kg to just 0.8kg before finally becoming modern birds.

Comments

Smile

[nospam007]

Think of it as evolution in action.

Re:Smile

[StripedCow]

Actually, because of the expansion of space-time, the dinosaurs stayed the same size.

No no no.

[Anonymous Coward]

First of all, Dinasours never existed. The fossils were put there by Satan.

Now, since birds are claimed to be dinasours one can only come to the conclusion that birds do not in fact exist.

The data is there to prove it. The only point where you and I disagree is how that data is interpreted and since I have the Word of the Lord, it is obvious that I am right.

Re:No no no.

[ArcadeMan]

Wrong. The noodley appendage is a make-believe idea put in our heads by the Invisible Pink Unicorn to test our faith in her.

Penguins Came from Whence?

[flyneye]

I wanna see the armor plated Tyrannopenguin.

Re:Dinosaurs went obsolete

[ArcadeMan]

Put a t-Rex into a forest with a pride of hungry lions. How long do you think the Rex would last?

What do you mean? An African or European tyrannosaurus rex?

Re:Dinosaurs went obsolete

[gwolf]

Do you mean Laurassian or Gondwanan tyrannosaurus rex?