The evolutionary link between dinosaur and birds is now unwaveringly establish . Birds are n’t just relate to dinosaur , theyareliving dinosaur . modernistic chickens have a good deal in usual with their therapod antecedent , but there are key differences . Researchers added a weighted prosthetic tail to a chicken to get a better estimate of how dinosaurs moved . The field was run by Bruno Grossi from the Universidad de Chile and the results were issue onPLOS ONE .
There are many law of similarity in the wooden leg construction of theropod dinosaurs and modern birds , including bipedalism and digitgrade front ( they take the air on their toes ) . Because of this , there is a luck that researchers can learn about dinosaur movement through studying birds . The largest disparity between the way a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a chicken would walk is the nates . While most hiss tail feathers are light and can be used kind of like a rudder in flight , dinosaur tail were much heavier and were used for Libra or protection . This weight departure alters the snapper of body mass as well as placement of the knee and range of apparent movement in the femur .
To remedy this divergence the researcher attached weighted arse made from clay and a wooden stick and affix it to the bird with Velcro . The stern were apply two days after think of and were replaced about every five day in decree to keep up with the chickens ’ development and to maintain the tail at about 15 % of the full body flock .
At the geezerhood of 12 week the Gallus gallus were videotape so as to supervise their pace . Compared to a ascendance grouping , the chickens with weighted fundament express a decreased range of motion in the knee , though the range of motion in the thighbone increase three times to compensate . The average femur length was actually marginally big for those with the assumed tails .
Though it might seem like using Velcro to attach cadaver and wooden stick to chickens is somewhat unnecessary , this is the most naturalistic model that researchers can get to better understand how dinosaurs moved . This will assist scientists in realize limb positioning and locomotion of tenacious - extinct two-footed dinosaurs .
