A FLEET, predatory dinosaur that lived in Mongolia 80 million years ago had
teeth like those of the first birds, not like other dinosaurs. The
1.5-metre-high Bryonosaurus, a member of a group of large-eyed,
large-brained dinosaurs called troodonts, had smooth teeth. They resemble those
of Archaeopteryx, the first bird, which lived some 150 million years
ago.
A new analysis of the troodonts’ other bone features makes them appear to be
closer relatives of birds than other dinosaurs, says Mark Norell of the American
Museum of Natural History in New York (Journal of Vertebrate
Paleontology, vol 20, p 7).
However,”this…
