THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
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Birds of a Feather?
China's mysterious 'feathered dinosaurs' fly into Europe
The precious fossil of a feathered Dromaeosaur
— 'Fuzzy Raptor' — is carefully handled by museum conservators.
'Fuzzy Raptor' and 12 other unique "dino-bird" fossils from Beijing's
Geological Museum of China are making their first visit to Europe.
Until May 5, 2003, visitors to London's Natural History Museum can
see the first exhibition of the Early Cretaceous fossils presented
in a way that traces the evolutionary origins of birds. Beginning
with a Late Jurassic treasure from the museum's own collection —
the Archaeopteryx lithographica, the
most ancient bird known to science — the exhibition takes visitors
through the arguments and the evidence confirming that today's birds
are indeed descendants of a group of small predatory dinosaurs that,
rather than dying out (like the much bigger and mightier Tyrannosaurus
rex), evolved feathers and then the ability to fly.
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