Proof that fearsome T-Rex evolved into a chicken

Chicken Science. Palaeontologists have long accepted that birds are a form of dinosaur.

Now the theory that the most feared dinosaur of all, Tyrannosaurus Rex, evolved into the modern-day chicken has been given scientific backing with the discovery of some pre-historic collagen.

The protein - responsible for giving skin its elasticity and bone its structure - is nowadays more readily associated with dinosaurs of the aging celebrity kind.

But scientists were surprised to discover traces in a 68million-year-old fossilised T-rex thighbone - supporting the belief expounded by Charles Darwin in his influential On The Origin Of Species By Means Of Natural Selection published nearly 150 years ago.

Analysis of the collagen has, they say, provided genetic proof of a link to chickens, with both sharing remarkably similar bone structure.

The collagen, from a bone unearthed in the U.S. state of Montana four years ago, also bore resemblance to that found in frogs and newts.

British palaeontologist Dr Angela Milner, of the National History Museum, said the unusual discovery had been made possible by the remarkable preservation of the particular fossil. She said: "This corroborates a huge body of evidence from the fossil record that demonstrates birds are made from meat-eating dinosaurs.

"The analysis shows that T-Rex collagen make-up is almost identical to that of a modern chicken. So we've been feeding on mighty dinosaurs all these years and we didn't even know