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The question of whether chickens are dinosaurs is a valid one. In fact, the feathered farm animals are more closely related to the T-Rex than any other living animal
Are chickens dinosaurs? That’s what’s behind it
There is always talk of chickens being dinosaurs. What sounds absurd at first has a kernel of truth.
- Chickens are not dinosaurs. Dinosaurs appeared on Earth around 235 million years ago and became extinct around 65 million years ago. So there are no more living dinosaurs today. But they have left their traces
- The link between birds, especially chickens, and dinosaurs is a fascinating topic that has long occupied the scientific community. Many researchers theorize that chickens are the descendants of ancient dinosaurs.
- Chickens share numerous anatomical features with dinosaurs. Scientists have found fossil evidence suggesting that birds are descended from theropod dinosaurs, a group of carnivorous dinosaurs that includes the famous Tyrannosaurus Rex.
This is what chickens and dinosaurs have in common
In fact, chickens and dinosaurs are very similar in many ways. The birds are much closer to the extinct animals than crocodiles, monitor lizards and other lizards, for example.
- Common features of chickens and dinosaurs include hollow bones, feathers and tripartite claws. Unlike in most books and films, many dinosaurs wore feathers.
- Numerous dinosaur fossils show signs of feather structures. This suggests that feathers are not exclusively a feature of birds, but had already evolved in some dinosaurs. The similarities in the structure and development of dinosaur feathers to the feathers of modern birds reinforce the theory of kinship.
- Studies of the genetic material of chickens have revealed similarities with certain genetic characteristics of dinosaurs. Although the direct extraction of dinosaur DNA is not yet possible, genetic comparisons between birds and reptiles allow conclusions to be drawn about a common evolutionary ancestry.
