(no subject)

[dominochan]

Hey mister_neil, you like dinosaurs, right? I found this article and thought of you:

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/ap/20060612/birdfossil_arc.html

They found the missing link between birds and dinosaurs. Awesome read!

Comments

[nanaki-muyo.livejournal.com]

dude! I'm actually familiar with this work.

Previously there was a gap between ancient and modern species of birds, and “Gansus fits perfectly into this gap,” said Jerald D. Harris of Dixie State College in Utah.

I know that guy!!

And Gansus is pretty neat. An actual link between dinosaurs and modern birds. It's been talked about for decades, since the discovery of archeopteryx. Problem with archeopteryx, iirc, is that it was still more dinosaur than bird. Basically, a feathered, flying dino, whereas Gansus is a 110 million yearl-old duck with a few dino qualities. I mean obviously in recent years the link has become more substantial, with the discovery of feathers being more common on dinosaurs, but to find and actual duck-like creature from that time period is just awesome.