The Science Sage: Chickenosaurus

I am going to go out on a limb here and state, unequivocally, that I like the Earth. Except for a few notable occasions in the past involving what can only be described as biblical amounts of rain-water entering my basement, it has been nice and hospitable to me and my family. I am rarely struck by a meteor when I leave the house, and, thanks to the fact that there is ample oxygen in the atmosphere, I can breathe normally as long as I am not in the midst of an asthma attack.

The planet wasn't always this enticing to life. At various times over the previous 4.6ish billion years the planet has seemed downright antagonistic to the squishy things that keep evolving on it. You are probably aware of the fact that despite their long reign as kings and queens of the planet, there are no dinosaurs tromping about the place anymore. This, I should point out, is probably for the best. It is one thing to be amazed by the sheer size and majesty of a 75 foot long Apatosaurus skeleton in your local museum of Natural History, but quite another to actually encounter an office building sized animal on your way to your car in the morning. I would, in all likelihood, pee myself should such an event transpire.

Despite the overall looseness of my bladder and the fact that we have all seen “Jurassic Park,” a group of scientists led by Jack Horner are in the process of building a dinosaur using the DNA of a chicken as their model. This may seem silly given that a dinosaur of any size is an imposing reptile while a chicken is, well, a chicken. How can they plan to resurrect dinosaurs by using chicken DNA?

It turns out that chickens, and indeed all birds, are direct descendants of dinosaurs. In fact, some taxonomists have decided that birds are not only related to dinosaurs they have begun splitting dinosaurs into two different groups: Avian dinosaurs (birds) and Non-Avian dinosaurs (all the other ones).

From the massive Cassowary to the tiny hummingbird, all birds are dinosaurs, and this is most evident from their DNA. Horner and others have discovered atavisms, or hidden traits, in birds that can be activated by tinkering with their DNA. Mess with the DNA that controls beak formation and you get a beak with teeth. Mess with the DNA that controls tail formation and you can produce a reptilian bony tail. Tweak the DNA associated with wing formation and you can get a wing with claws. Change all of this DNA in a single bird and you can get a chicken with teeth, a bony tail, and claw wings. Still not exactly a T. Rex but significantly more dinosaur like than the current model of chicken.

For more information on the chickenosaurus take a look at the video below. I am also including YouTube links to an amazing BBC documentary on the dissection of a Cassowary for any that are interested.

TED Talk - Jack Horner: How to build a dinosaur from a chicken