DINOSAURS, EVOLVED?

Currently, birds, which are derived from reptiles, are the closest living relatives of dinosaurs as they share similar skeletal structure to the earlier-bird dinosaurs. Birds are similar to a branch of the dinosaur lineage which survived the Cretaceous crisis and radiated into the forms we know today. It is said that bird and dinosaurs either had a common ancestor which give rise to both groups or that birds aren’t dinosaurs but they are currently the closet living things to dinosaurs. 22 similarities have been found between birds and dinosaurs that are non-existent in other groups. They share several structures which are unique to just these two species.

 

Birds are similar in the sense that they have feathers and dinosaurs have scales. It’s similar in the sense that both traits were produced by a similar tissue. Also, the soft anatomy (musculature, brain, heart, and other organs) of both species is similar to one another though birds are more derived in certain parts mainly due to their endothermic metabolism and their ability to fly. There’s also skeletal evidence that links birds of dinosaurs such as the long curved neck or the ankle. From research on the basis of the synapomorphic traits, Gauthier’s analysis revealed the closest relatives to birds are probably the Coelurosaurian dinosaurs and some scientists go as far as to say that birds should be considered coelurosaurs.