Are there any animals alive today that are directly descended from dinosaurs?

Question

I asked this in case that big asteroid missed a few. It could happen. P.S. Turtles and alligators DON'T count!

Answer 1

Birds.

http://www.dinosaur-world.com/feathered_dinosaurs/aves.htm

Answer 2

Birds are the direct descendants of dinosaurs. You can verify this by looking at transitional forms, such as the Archaeopteryx fossils, which are basically feathered flying dinosaurs. Also, feathers initially evolved on dinosaurs, seen in other fossils.

If you have ever seen cockatiel babies, you will also come to the conclusion that they don't seem to have evolved very much. They are ugly little critters.

Answer 3

Very likely some birds are direct descendents of dinosaurs.

Answer 4

The scientific community is still debating the link between birds and dinosaurs.

Answer 5

Birds descended directly from dinosaurs. In particular the group called theropods.

In fact when scientists involved in classification refer to dinosaurs they are sometimes obliged to call them 'non-avian dinosaurs' to distinguish them from their feathered, flying, modern descendents.

Answer 6

Yes, birds. These are direct descendants of one line of dinosaurs.

Answer 7

birds, crocodyus species like crocodiles and alligators. loch ness monster and champ in lake champlain.

Answer 8

BIRDS..... At least one significant group of dinosaurs has survived until the present day; taxonomists consider modern birds to be the direct descendants of theropod dinosaurs.

Excerpt from Wikipedia.... The current scientific consensus holds that birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs. Using the strict phylogenetic definition of a clade as all descendants of a single last common ancestor, modern birds are dinosaurs and dinosaurs are, therefore, not extinct. Less scientifically, but more comprehensible than concepts like monophyly, the current state of knowledge could be summed up by a Clausewitzian Birds are a continuation of dinosaurs by other means.

This theory, first suggested by the discovery of the “missing link” Archaeopteryx in 1861 (technically 1855), has been most spectacularly illustrated by the recent discovery of feathered dinosaurs, most famously in Liaoning province, China. Yet the most compelling evidence still comes from a complete anatomical study of both groups. Birds share hundreds of anatomical features with other dinosaurs unique to the various dinosaurian clades they belong to, and also many behavioral similarities inferred from fossils.

Features linking birds and dinosaurs
Over a hundred distinct anatomical[citation needed] features are shared by birds and theropod dinosaurs. Some of the more interesting similarities are discussed here:


The remarkable four-winged Microraptor, a "cousin" of the birds
[edit] Feathers
Main article: Feathered dinosaurs
The first good specimen of a 'feathered dinosaur' was the 1861 discovery of Archaeopteryx, in Germany, in the Solnhofen limestone, which is a lagerstätte; one of the rare and remarkable geological formations known for their superbly detailed fossils. Coming just two years after Darwin's seminal The Origin of Species, the evidence of a transitional fossil between reptiles and birds spurred the debate between evolutionary biology and creationism. This early bird is so dinosaur-like that, without a clear impression of feathers in the surrounding rock, the specimens are commonly mistaken for Compsognathus.

Since the 1990s, a number of feathered dinosaurs have been found, providing clear evidence of the close relationship between dinosaurs and birds. Most of these specimens were local to Liaoning province in northeastern China, which was part of an island continent in the Cretaceous Period. However, the feathers were only preserved by the lagerstätte of the Yixian Formation; it is therefore possible that dinosaurs elsewhere in the world may also have been feathered, even though the feathers have not been preserved.

The feathered dinosaurs discovered so far include Beipiaosaurus, Caudipteryx, Dilong, Microraptor, Protarchaeopteryx, Shuvuuia, Sinornithosaurus, Sinosauropteryx and Jinfengopteryx, along with dinosaur-like birds, like Confuciusornis. All of them have been found in the same area and formation, in northern China. The Dromaeosauridae family, in particular, seems to have been heavily feathered and at least one dromaeosaurid, Cryptovolans, may have been capable of flight.


[edit] Skeleton
Because feathers are often associated with birds, feathered dinosaurs are often touted as the missing link between birds and dinosaurs. However, the association of multiple skeletal features also shared by the two groups is the more important link for paleontologists. Furthermore, it is increasingly clear that the relationship between birds, dinosaurs and the evolution of flight is more complex than has been previously realized. For example, while it was once believed that birds simply evolved from dinosaurs and went their separate way, some scientists now believe that some dinosaurs, such as the dromaeosaurs, may have actually evolved from birds, losing the power of flight while keeping the feathers in a manner similar to the Ostrich and other ratites.

Comparisons of bird and dinosaur skeletons, as well as cladistic analysis, strengthens the case for the link, particularly for a branch of theropods called maniraptors. Specific similarities have already been listed.


[edit] Lungs
Large meat-eating dinosaurs had a complex system of air sacs similar to those found in modern birds, according to an investigation which was led by Patrick O'Connor of Ohio University. The lungs of theropod dinosaurs (carnivores that walked on two legs and had birdlike feet) likely pumped air into hollow sacs in their skeletons, as is the case in birds. "What was once formally considered unique to birds was present in some form in the ancestors of birds", O'Connor said. The study was funded in part by the National Science Foundation.[1]


[edit] Heart
Modern computerized tomography (CT) scans of dinosaur chest cavities, performed five years ago, found the apparent remnants of complex, four-chambered hearts, more like mammals and birds.[citation needed]


[edit] Sleeping posture
A recently discovered troodont fossil, Mei long, demonstrates that the dinosaurs slept like certain modern birds, with their heads tucked under their arms.[2] This behavior, which may have helped to keep the head warm, is also characteristic of modern birds.


[edit] Brooding
Several Citipati specimens (formerly referred to as Oviraptor) have been found resting over the eggs in its nest in a position most reminiscent of brooding.[citation needed]


[edit] Care of young
Several dinosaur species, e.g. Maiasaura, have been found in herds mixing very young and adult individual, suggesting rich interactions between them.

A dinosaur embryo was found without teeth, which suggests some parental care was required to feed the young dinosaur, possibly the adult dinosaur regurgitated food into the young dinosaur's mouth (see altricial). This behaviour is seen in numerous bird species; parent birds regurgitate food into the hatchling's mouth [3].


[edit] Gizzard
Another piece of evidence that birds and dinosaurs are closely related is the use of gizzard stones. These stones are swallowed by animals to aid digestion and break down food and hard fibres once they enter the stomach. When found in association with fossils, gizzard stones are called gastroliths. Because a particular stone could have been swallowed at one location before being carried to another during migration, paleontologists sometimes use the stones found in dinosaur stomachs to establish possible migration routes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur-bird_connection
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feathered_dinosaurs

Answer 9

I think komodo dragons are. And birds. lol at the first answerer

Answer 10

Birds!! Didn't you see jurassic park??