Dinosaurs and birds are related in the same way all organisms on Earth are related to each other through common ancestry. However, just how close the relationship between dinosaurs and birds is continues to be a contentious issue. There have been many controversies in the study of the origin of birds. Early disagreements included whether birds evolved from dinosaurs or more primitive archosaurs. Within the dinosaur camp, there were disagreements as to whether ornithischian or theropod dinosaurs were the more likely ancestors. Although ornithischian (bird-hipped) dinosaurs share the hip structure of modern birds, birds are thought to have originated from the saurischian (lizard-hipped) dinosaurs, and therefore evolved their hip structure independently. In fact, a bird-like hip structure evolved a third time among a peculiar group of theropods known as the Therizinosauridae. A few scientists suggest that birds are not dinosaurs, but evolved from early archosaurs like Longisquama.
Based on fossil and biological evidence, most scientists accept that birds are a specialized subgroup of theropod dinosaurs. More specifically, they are members of Maniraptora, a group of theropods which includes dromaeosaurs and oviraptorids, among others. As scientists discover more nonavian theropods closely related to birds, the previously clear distinction between nonbirds and birds has become blurred. Recent discoveries in the Liaoning Province of northeast China, which demonstrate many small theropod dinosaurs had feathers, contribute to this ambiguity.
The consensus view in contemporary Paleontology is that the birds, Aves, are the closest relatives of the deinonychosaurs, which include dromaeosaurids and troodontids. Together, these three form a group called Paraves. The basal dromaeosaur Microraptor has features which may have enabled it to glide or fly. The most basal deinonychosaurs are very small. This evidence raises the possibility that the ancestor of all paravians may have been arboreal, may have been able to glide, or both.
The Late Jurassic Archaeopteryx is well-known as one of the first transitional fossils to be found, and it provided support for the theory of evolution in the late 19th century. Archaeopteryx has clearly reptilian characteristics: teeth, clawed fingers, and a long, lizard-like tail, but it has finely preserved wings with flight feathers identical to those of modern birds. It is not considered a direct ancestor of modern birds, but is the oldest and most primitive known member of Aves or Avialae, and it is probably closely related to the real ancestor.
Scientist think that birds are related to dinosaurs because as you study the fossilised bones of certain therapod dinosaurs especially dromaeosaurs you start to notice many similarities between them and modern day birds. The famous archeopteryx for example, which is historically considered the first bird, looked very much like a bird but still had claws on its wings and had a mouth full of teeth. Other dinosaurs from the same time period look even more like birds. In fact experiments done on modern day bird embryos show that if you play around with the genes of birds you can engineer dinosaur features such as teeth, long dinosaur tails etc. All the key features that people associate with birds developed when they were still dinosaurs. Dinosaurs had feathers, dinosaurs had oval shaped eggs, dinosaurs had beaks. The morphology of birds is so similar to some dinosaurs that scientist are starting to consider birds as not just related to dinosaurs but actually as avian dinosaurs.
In a sense, yes. Alligators are related to dinosaurs, or rather, are the only surviving dinosaurs that did not "evolve." Birds are also surviving dinosaurs, but they evolved from the larger, reptilian types of dinos. Alligators, and crocodiles, just got smaller. I know what you are thinking, "How does that answer the question? It asks if alligators are related to dragons, not dinosaurs." In ancient times, people referred to dinosaurs as dragons. Dragons are also mentioned in the Bible to refer to dinosaurs.
There is good evidence that they do. Proteins from the T. rex, the oldest sequences ever reported, were similar to chicken collagen, adding to the mountain of evidence that dinosaurs are most closely related to birds.
A evolutionary form of a bird. It had wings and feathers but still probably acted like a dinosaur but im not sure.
Yes, Big Al is similar to both birds and reptiles in that it is a type of dinosaur. Birds are believed to have evolved from certain types of dinosaurs, and reptiles are part of the same broader group of animals that includes dinosaurs. Big Al specifically belongs to the group of dinosaurs known as theropods, which are closely related to both birds and some reptiles.
Dinosaurs are most closely related to birds to the extent that birds are cnsidered a branch of dinosaurs.
No, dinosaurs are more related to reptiles and birds.
No modern bird is more closely related to dinosaurs than any other.
Yes. All birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs and are considered by many to be dinosaurs.
So now you know how dinosaurs are amazingly related to birds!
Birds. The reason is that both crocodiles and dinosaurs are archosaurs, and birds evolved from dinosaurs.
Pterosaurs were closely related to the dinosaurs. Because birds have descended from dinosaurs, the closest living relatives of pterosaurs are birds. All birds are equally related to pterosaurs.
yes, birds are related to them.
They are mostly related to DINOSAURS
The closest living relatives of Stegosaurus are the birds. Birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs, which, being dinosaurs, were somewhat related to Stegosaurus. All birds are equally related to Stegosaurus.
They were small dinosaurs. I'm not kidding.`````````````````No, this person is not kidding. Although, they were not just small dinosaurs. I believe birds are also related to such dinosaurs as Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Of course, if you look at a birds feet it will look scaly