Though highly suspected from skeletal anatomy comparison, the first molecular evidence that birds are the closest living descendants of dinosaurs has been made. The Tyrannosaurus rex is more closely related to the chicken or the ostrich than to modern reptiles like lizards and alligators. Until very recently, protein sequences have not been available for dinosaurs, since most fossils do not yield proteins or DNA. Check out the National Geographic article for more.T. Rex Protein "Confirms" Bird-Dinosaur Link
Scott Norris
for National Geographic News
A new study of ancient proteins retrieved from a Tyranosaurus rex fossil confirms the long-hypothesized evolutionary connection between dinosaurs and modern birds, experts say.
The finding is the first molecular evidence that birds, not lizards or other reptiles, are the closest living relatives of dinosaurs, the researchers note.
A close relationship between the two groups was already widely suspected, based on similarities in skeletal features.
The new research follows a breakthrough study last year in which scientists reported the recovery and partial molecular sequencing of T. rex and mastodon proteins.
Both dinosaur studies examined samples of collagen, the main protein component of bone.
In addition to cementing the dino-bird connection, the new study provides the first molecular evidence that mastodons and elephants are also closely related.
"This shows that if we can sequence even tiny pieces of fossil protein, we can establish evolutionary relationships," said co-author John Asara of Harvard Medical School, who also led the previous T. rex study.
Chris Organ of Harvard University is the lead author of the new report, which appears in tomorrow's issue of the journal Science.
From T. Rex to Chicken
The T. rex proteins were extracted from soft tissues preserved inside 68-million-year-old fossil remains first described in 2005.
The mastodon remains were much younger, dating to between 160,000 and 600,000 years ago.
Using a variety of techniques, the researchers compared the T. rex and mastodon protein sequences with those of 21 living animals, including ostriches, chickens, and alligators.
Such comparisons are commonly used by biologists to construct evolutionary "family trees," since similar protein structure is a sign of shared genetic makeup.
Until very recently, however, protein sequences have not been available for ancient organisms such as dinosaurs, since most fossils do not yield proteins or DNA.
The family trees of dinosaurs and other ancient vertebrates are instead known largely by comparing many fine details of skeletal anatomy.
If molecular data become more widely available for dinosaurs, Asara noted, researchers will be able to fill in gaps and overcome possible errors in existing classification based on physical features.
To illustrate his point, he noted that the shared ancestry of two present-day groups—elephants and shrew-like tenrecs—is known solely from DNA and protein comparisons.
"Nobody could make that connection based on bones," he noted.
"The amazing part of this study is that we could establish the dinosaur-bird connection using only 89 total amino acids [the building blocks of proteins]," Asara said.
With only a small amount of sequence data, he continued, "we can take an unidentified or fragmented fossil bone and not only identify the species but also help place it in evolution."
Fossil Molecules
It remains to be seen whether even small sequences can be extracted from ancient fossils with any regularity, experts say.
Mary Schweitzer of North Carolina State University is a co-author of the new study and made the initial discovery of the T. rex soft tissue remains.
She has argued that such remains may be relatively common in well-preserved fossils but are often overlooked.
Others have said that protein preservation over tens of millions of years should not be possible. Some scientists have continued to question whether Asara's and Schweitzer's sequences really came from an ancient T. rex.
Proteins from some other biological source could have somehow contaminated the dinosaur remains, the skeptics note.
The new finding that the proteins are most similar to those of birds, Asara said, helps rule out the possibility of contamination from other sources such as mammals.
But doubts remain. Peggy Ostrom is a biologist at Michigan State University in East Lansing and an expert on fossil proteins.
Many have remained skeptical about the T. rex protein findings, she said, because of the small size of the sequences.
"They have a very tiny bit of data relative to the size of the collagen molecule," Ostrom said.
"What's going to be really convincing is to actually see some more sequences," she added.
"If [preservation of dinosaur proteins] is a ubiquitous occurrence, then that should be forthcoming."
Ostrom also noted that many recent findings, including the mastodon remains dated to nearly half a million years ago, have greatly pushed back previously accepted time limits for protein molecule preservation.
"In 2000, there probably wasn't one biochemist around who would tell you we'd find a protein over 40 thousand years old," she said.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Chicken is T. rex's closes living relative
Thursday, September 25, 2008
We need Americans Not Career Politicians
Why aren't more people...why isn't the American press pounding the idea that the current financial debacle is the responsibility of our government. Where has Congress been. They, and the Presidents, seem so short sighted. All they seem to care about is getting more money now to insure reelection. Or worse, they pander to public opinion in order to get reelected. We elect them to handle the problems we don't have time to investigate properly. That is one reason that we are a republic. If I wanted a government run by polls, why would I need a representative or a President.
This financial problem seems to have been a long time coming. Instead of promoting savings we promote spending. Don't encourage people to save for a home or get one that is affordable instead lets encourage companies to loan them more money. Who pays for this? The people themselves while the politicians get reelected!
So the mortgage industry is collapsing, what do we do now. We have to pony up. No this isn't really a bailout I know. We are purchasing assets, and at reduced values but in essence the government is becoming the landlord. What does it do with these assets. The people are defaulting, which is the problem. Does it foreclose? And when it buys these assets from the mortgage holders it will be below book value which means that these companies will have large write-downs on their books. How will Wall Street react to this? Plus, we have to borrow more money to do this. Our credit rating is placed even more at jeopardy and if it slips then the interest we pay goes up. Since we can't afford to pay our current interest without borrowing how do we pay even more in interest. We don't even want to think about the possibility of the defacto world currency switching from the dollar. These are all possible outcomes.
Yes we will pull through. In fact, after the election we probably won't hear much about this outside of the business media. The point to remember is that we need to hold politicians accountable for past stupidity. Hold the current politicians to the fire to do what is best for the country in the long run not just what is best for our state, county, city, company or purselves today! We have a lot of long-term problems that have to be addressed and no one seems to care beyond what it will bring them today.
Education, Rebuilding our Infrastructure, Retirement (not just Social Security), Healthcare (not just Medicare and Medicaid), Security, Innovation, Government Bloat, Government Debt, and the Economy; these are all current, real problems that can collapse our country and they all require long-term plans.
Those that know me know that I am pretty far from being a socialist and the current problems should indicate the government is inept at solving these problems themselves. In fact, they can and usually make them worse. That's because they believe the ONLY solution is a transfer of power and wealth to themselves. The real solution is for government to find ways to promote the solution and then get out of the way. But who can blame the government, they have to be reelected every 2-6 years. They usually can't see beyond this. That is why it is up to us. We have to think and vote with a longer time frame in mind. We need to elect smart people, people with character, who can discern what is right and follow through even if it's difficult. Even if that means that they won't be reelected! We don't need career politicians in office. We need Americans.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Prophecies of His Preexistence
This weeks Starbucks Bible Study Topic: Prophecies of His Preexistence
What is Messianic prophecy and why do we need to study it?
Our first class will concentrate on the prophecies of Jesus' preexistence.
Was the Son of God born? Or has He always been? Does it even matter?
We will look at Jesus' own words for guidence.
See www.X-trials.com for more info on the class.
Monday, September 22, 2008
New Bible Study Starting September 25th
The X-Trials Bible Study Group will begin a new Bible study on Thursday, September 25, 2009 at 7pm; we'll be meeting at Starbucks as usual. Don't let the start date scare you off. You can join at anytime!
We've just completed a look at several key figures in the Old Testament which was great! Thank you to everyone. We had some great discussions. I know that I learned a lot. This Fall we are going to be looking at the Messianic Prophecies and how Jesus fulfilled them. We'll be using the book "All the Messianic Prophecies of the Bible" by Herbert Lockyer. We’ll cover how the different prophecies accurately foretell of the coming of Christ including His ancestry, birth, character, and His death and resurrection.
As always, this course is designed to be a "come when you can" class. In other words, each week we cover something different so if you can't make a week...show up for the next one! We welcome everyone. It is a discussion oriented class but if you want to come and listen only...feel free.
Join us for a cup of coffee and a night of fellowship!
See you there,
Brian Borden
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Mister Bookseller
Here is a sweet little comic for you. A bookstore that carries every book...except one.
By the way...it might prompt you with an adult content warning but it is completely safe.
Friday, September 05, 2008
Ms. Dewey
Ok so I decided to finally do a new post and as I was going over old post ideas from a year ago I came across "Ms. Dewey." Ms. Dewey is an interactive search engine by Microsoft, www.msdewey.com. As I am looking at the website I have the TV show Stargate Atlantis playing in the background. While watching I notice one of the guest stars on the episode and she looks an awful lot like Ms. Dewey! Upon a little investigation I find out its the actress Janina Gavankar and sure enough she also plays Ms. Dewey. What are the odds. Anyway, check out the site. Its a little diversion.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
I'm Back!!!!
I know, I know...where has Brian been. A lot has been going on to keep me away but I back. Over on the X-Trials site, I'll be updating with the new Bible Study at Starbucks.
Monday, May 12, 2008
New X-trials Bible Study
OK, its time for a new Bible Study and I'm really excited about this one. Starting May 22, 2008 we'll be covering several Old Testament figures using the book "Following God: Learning Life Principles from the Personalities of the Old Testament" by Wayne Barber as a starting point. Now some of you may cringe at studying these old patriarchs of our faith: I mean haven't we heard their stories over and over? Well, yes...and no. We are going to take a fresh look at these "Righteous Dudes" and learn that they weren't perfect...in fact, they are a lot, and I mean a lot, like us today.
What can they teach us? Plenty!
So join us for an X-trials look at these old dudes of faith. Each week will be someone different, so if you miss a class...show up next time!
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Another X-trials Bible study starting up!
Let's not beat around the bush. How about some tough questions? In this course we are going to do just that with "The 10 Most Common Objections to Christianity" by Alex McFarland...plus we'll through in a few of our own tough questions just to show we're serious! Don't believer me...here are some of the questions we'll be asking:
What about all those errors in the Bible?
How can anyone know that God exists?
What about Evolution?
What makes Jesus different?
Aren't there many roads to Heaven?
What about the other religions?
Why does God allow suffering?
Is Hell real?
Aren't most people basically good?
Do babies go to heaven?
Is there a difference between murder and killing?
Told you we weren't going to pull punches. We are going to ask the tough questions. Do we have the answers...well...we'll have to see about that. So join us starting February 21, 2008 and put your two cents in. As always, each week is different so come when you can!
For more info jump to www.X-trials.com.
Brian Borden
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Rollin' with the Finns to the Y.M.C.A.
This is why you should love YouTube. Of course it's also the reason you should hate YouTube.
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