When we talk about dinosaurs, the images that pop into our minds are those gigantic figures: the wide-mouthed Tyrannosaurus rex, the agile velociraptor, and the long-necked giants that seemed to reach the sky. They look like they have nothing in common with modern animals, right?
But if I told you that dinosaurs didn’t completely go extinct—and even appear in your kitchen every day—you might think I’m joking.
Believe it or not, the animal that is genetically closest to dinosaurs is… the chicken!
Don’t laugh—this isn’t a joke, but solid scientific research. Scientists extracted trace amounts of collagen protein from well-preserved T. rex fossils and compared them with modern animals. The surprising result:
The protein sequence of Tyrannosaurus rex is closest to that of the chicken, followed by the ostrich and the crocodile.
What does this mean?
It means that the chicken you eat every day is essentially a “mini feathered dinosaur.”
No wonder some people say that fried chicken might be what dinosaurs tasted like—just more fragrant, crisp, and easier to chew.
But why chickens, and not crocodiles, which look more like dinosaurs?
The reason is simple:
* Birds are not distant relatives of dinosaurs; they are **direct descendants of theropod dinosaurs**, the same group as velociraptors and T. rex.
* Crocodiles, although ancient, are only “distant cousins” of dinosaurs.
Even more interesting, many dinosaur fossils show impressions of feathers. This means that many dinosaurs may have looked even more like… giant chickens than we imagined!
So next time you’re about to dig into a meal, you can humorously say, “I’m eating dinosaur legs today.”
It sounds absurd, but it’s scientifically true.
Although dinosaurs left the Earth 65 million years ago, they continue to exist in another form—running around everywhere as birds, and appearing on dining tables as chickens.
Sometimes, science is more magical than jokes.
Kawah Dinosaur Official Website: www.kawahdinosaur.com