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Article: DINOSAUR LINK TO BIRDS DEBATED; Feathers, feet fuel other question: Do the 2 species share an ancestor?(LIFE - SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY)
- Article from:
- The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- February 2, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 The Washington Times LLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Laura Latzko, THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Did feathered dinosaurs exist? Are birds the living descendants of dinosaurs? Paleontologists have been asking themselves these questions for decades, and the debate surrounding them continues around the world.
British paleontologist Thomas Huxley started the debate in 1868 when he suggested that birds descended from dinosaurs because of their similar body structures, which included their identical ankle joints and backward-pointing phalanx, or fourth toe.
Paleontologists are still split on the issue. Many, like Matt T. Carrano, curator of Dinosauria at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural ...