Birds are dinosaurs

Paleontologists have named about 1000 species of dinosaurs depending on what journals you read. They believe that makes up about 1/5 of what was really out there during the mesozoic era, "the age of reptiles". Sixty five million years ago, this Sunday, they suddenly all disappeared. Or did they? What we believe now is that the last major extinction of life took only the non Avian dinosaurs. Some of those pesky "hole in the hip socket" reptiles still exist. BIRDS. Tonight when you go home and eat a half of a roasted chicken, you're eating a dinosaur. When you walk through Central Park tomorrow in New York City and you see a pigeon walking along the path next to you, you're walking with a dinosaur. That's correct. Birds have evolved from a type of dinosaur much like humans have evolved from a type of mammal.

The link, or the "missing link" as it is sometimes referred, is Archeopteryx. The first bird fossil ever found. It was found in 1861 in Solnheim Germany and it is considered to be the most famous fossil ever found. It is an impression in stone of a perfect specimen. So much so that the ribs of the feathered wings are clearly visible. At the AMNH in NYC, we compare the complete skeleton of Deinonichus, a dromeosaur, to a scaled model of Archeoptyrx. The similarities are incredible and hard to ignore. The fused wrist bones, the straight and flattened tail, the large singular claw, the tree toes, the expanded rib cage, etc.

Stop by the AMNH for a free tour to learn more. Tours given by yours truly FNK, mostly Saturdays and Sundays. This Saturday in fact at 1:15 and Sunday at 3:15. You too can learn more about the planet you live on. Planet Earth.