More fossil proof of bird and dino link

LONDON - The discovery of a 130-million-year-old fossil of a feathered dinosaur provides dramatic evidence that birds evolved from the ancient reptiles, according to new research published on Wednesday.

Palaeontologists at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where the fossil - on loan from China - is on display, believe the skeleton of a young dinosaur covered with primitive fluff is proof that the creatures developed feathers for warmth, not flight, and that birds evolved from dinosaurs.

Dr Mark Norell, chairman of the division of palaeontology, said that the fossil was about the size of a duck with a long tail.

The 76-cm-long fossil, described in the journal, Nature, was found by farmers in layers of volcanic and sedimentary rock of the Yixian Formation in China's Liaoning Province.

It is a dromaeosaur - a small, fast-running carnivorous dinosaur with a sickle-like claw on its middle toe.

The creature is related to the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex and belongs to a group of dinosaurs called theropods - two-legged predators with sharp teeth.

Feathers have been found on dinosaurs which could not fly and which 'pre-dated the origins of birds and avian flight', the article in Nature said.

Dr Norell said the most reasonable explanation for the feathers was not flight but warmth.

'It's conceivable that smaller dinosaurs like this one and even the young of larger species like Tyrannosaurus Rex may have needed feathers to keep warm,' he said.

Until now, most fossils of feathered dinosaurs, first discovered in 1995, have been incomplete.

Scientists opposed to the theory that birds evolved from dinosaurs argued that the partial remains of fluffy prehistoric creatures were not sufficient proof for the hypothesis.

They believe birds evolved independently from a still undiscovered reptile.

Mr Ji Qiang, of the Chinese Academy of Geological Science, which lent the fossil to the New York museum, said the discovery was particularly important.

'This is the specimen we've been waiting for. It makes it indisputable that a body covering similar to feathers was present in non-avian dinosaurs,' he said in a statement.

--Reuters