DNA bird fossil

[Geek-9pm]

DNA from the largest bird ever sequenced from fossil eggshells

Posted on: March 9, 2010 7:00 PM, by Ed Yong
Aepyornis.jpgEven extinction and the passing of millennia are no barriers to clever geneticists. In the past few years, scientists have managed to sequence the complete genome of a prehistoric human and produced "first drafts" of the mammoth and Neanderthal genomes. More controversially, some groups have even recovered DNA from dinosaurs. Now, a variety of extinct birds join the ancient DNA club including the largest that ever lived - Aepyornis, the elephant bird. 

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[rthompson80819]

So birds are really descended from elephants.  I knew the movie Dumbo was a true story.