Chickens are small animals that don’t seem to pose harm to anything that’s bigger than them. Conversely, dinosaurs are thought to be gigantic — bigger than any animal that we can see in today’s world. So, why is there talk about the T-Rex being a close relative of the chicken? Is there any truth to this? The short answer is yes! Read on to find out more.
Yes, Chickens Seem to Be Relatives of the T-Rex
According to scientists, chickens are indeed the closest relatives of the T-Rex that we know of. Chickens are the evolution of the T-Rex, kind of like how humans are the evolution of apes. Scientists examined a small piece of protein preserved from a 68-million-year-old T-Rex and found out that not only do chickens share many of the same proteins and DNA with a T-Rex, but elephants also do.
Therefore, scientists have started classifying the chicken as a dinosaur. It’s been established that bird bones look like dinosaur bones. The T-Rex even had a wishbone!
In fact, chickens and T-Rex foot bones are remarkably similar. Research indicates that at least some dinosaurs had feathers like chickens and other types of birds. Apparently, dinosaur eggs even looked like chicken eggs!
Some Chickens Have Been Reverted (Somewhat) Back to Dinosaurs!
A person by the name of Bhart-Anjan Bhullar, Ph.D., decided to try to revert chickens into dinosaurs. What he did was inhibit a select number of genes during the chicken embryo’s development, and the result was incredible. The baby chickens developed snouts similar to those of dinosaurs.
Therefore, it’s safe to say that chickens can be classified as dinosaurs even though they are much smaller and less threatening. That said, there is so much that we still don’t know about dinosaurs like the T-Rex. How big were dinosaurs, really? Were dinosaurs ferocious, or would they be as docile as chickens tend to be? These are questions that still need to be answered.
Final Thoughts
The closest living relative to the T-Rex is indeed a chicken, and it even looks like chickens can be considered dinosaurs in today’s world. However, if such a small and docile animal can be a dinosaur, you may wonder if dinosaurs were ever so scary in the first place. Perhaps dinosaurs helped pave the road to the world that we find ourselves living in today. That seems to be what science is telling us!
- See also: Are Birds Dinosaurs? Facts & Pictures
Featured Image Credit: Wirestock Creators, Shutterstock