Modern Birds Are Really Baby Dinosaurs

Modern Birds Are Really Baby Dinosaurs

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Modern birds retain the physical characteristics of baby dinosaurs, according to a new Nature study that found birds are even more closely related to dinos than previously thought. Depending on the non-avian dinosaur and bird compared, that might be hard to believe. A toothy, angry reconstruction of Tyrannosaurus rex, for example, on first glance looks little like a common garden blue jay. When researchers go beyond the surface to the tissue and skull levels, however, the similarities become more obvious.

Researchers found evidence that the evolution of birds is the result of a drastic change in how dinosaurs developed. Rather than take years to reach sexual maturity, as many dinosaurs did, birds sped up the clock (some species take as little as 12 weeks to mature) allowing them to lock into their baby dinosaur look.