T Rex tastes like chicken?

Well, maybe. Evolutionary biologists were able to scavenge enough DNA from a Tyrannasaurus rex fossil to determine chickens were among its closest biological relatives.

The research published this week in the journal Science marked “the first use of molecular data to place a non-avian dinosaur in a phylogenetic tree that traces the evolution of species,” the journal said.

“These results match predictions made from skeletal anatomy, providing the first molecular evidence for the evolutionary relationships of a non-avian dinosaur,” co-author Chris Organ, a postdoctoral researcher in organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard University said.

“Though we only had six peptides — just 89 amino acids — from T. rex, we were able to establish these relationships with a relatively high degree of support,” he added.

“With more data, we’d likely see the T. rex branch on the phylogenetic tree between alligators and chickens and ostriches, though we can't resolve this position with currently available data,” he added.

This is big stuff on several counts.

First, the ability to use such slim remnants of DNA for this testing.

Second, it more clearly opens to debate the question about whether or not any dinosaurs were warm-blooded.

Third, in the face of the propaganda film “Crossroads” “Expelled,” this shows how science actually works. (For more about the movie, see Expelled.)

Oh, and it’s too bad the T. rex DNA came from a femur. If it had been a coprolite, I’d have a bonus issue of scatblogging coming up.