Are dinosaurs the real ancestors of birds? What was the evolution process like? Those questions are the most controversial topics in the field of evolutionary biology. Chinese Academy of Sciences` Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology has recently proposed a new hypothesis providing new evidence of the bird`s genesis.

The international research team is led by a researcher from CAS, Xu Xing. In the Jurassic beds in the Junggar Basin in Northwest China`s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, they found a kind of dinosaur called Limusaurus, which means the dinosaurs living in the marsh.

Xu Xing, researcher, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, said, "That kind of dinosaur was very special. They belonged to a big family of flesh-eaters but they had no teeth and had gastrolith in the stomach. So we presume that Limusaurus were vegetarians."

The previous fossil research records show that dinosaurs had five fingers and they degenerated the last two fingers counted from the thumb. While modern developmental biology claims that birds keep the three fingers in the middle. The two materials are totally contradicted and led to a doubt.

Fortunately, through researching the newly discovered dinosaur fossils, the scientists found that kind of dinosaurs degenerated the thumb and the little finger and kept the three fingers in the middle, which is the same as birds.

Experts say the latest discovery has perfected the hypothesis and provided a panorama of the evolutionary process from dinosaur to bird.

From http://english.cctv.com/20090626/102118.shtml