Dinosaur family tree is to be radically redrawn
The proposed new family tree includes two reformulated categories, or clades, of dinosaurs to replace the two that paleontologists have long recognized
Some of the best-known dinosaurs, like Tyrannosaurus rex and Brontosaurus, may be headed for a divorce due to irreconcilable differences. Scientists on Wednesday proposed a radical overhaul of the dinosaur family tree first laid out in 1888, concluding after an analysis of 75 species that the meat-eating group that includes T. rex should not be lumped in with the long-necked, long-tailed, four-legged plant-eaters like Brontosaurus. The proposed new family tree includes two reformulated categories, or clades, of dinosaurs to replace the two that paleontologists have long recognized. The research also pushes dinosaur origins back to relatively soon after a mass extinction that rocked the Earth 252 million years ago.
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