That’s why this collagen find is so important. We can’t clone a Dino from collagen but we sure can learn a lot. In fact, we can learn more from proteins than we could from DNA anyway.

Or, remembering all the warning of Dr. Malcom in the Jurassic Park series, it could just go horribly bad. Studying changes in proteins can actually give us more insights about evolution than just looking at the DNA. Proteins can yield clues about the age of a sample or about the environment in which an animal lived or was buried. Schweitzer As far as current theories go, the idea that T. rex’s forelimbs are in fact totally useless is growing in popularity, says Sara Burch, a paleontologist at Ohio University. But Burch isn’t convinced and is trying to reconstruct the muscle layout of T. rex’s forelimbs based on the forelimb muscles of its modern relatives and the shape of the bones. Chance of an answer: Not out of the realm of possibility. “I think with the new methods of muscle reconstruction and 3D modeling out there, we will definitely narrow down the possibilities of uses for the forelimb,” says Burch. The Nation’s T. rex contains one of most complete forelimbs in the fossil record. “That could lead us to something,” says Carrano.When paleontologists found the Archaeopteryx they finally had a well-preserved fossil that showed only slight differences between Archaeopteryx and theropods. Finally, In 2011, samples of amber from the Cretaceous era were discovered that contained preserved feathers. This led paleontologist to conclude that “some of the feathers were used for insulation, and not flight.”

Oh, I just thought of something. If that is true, then it also answers a few age-old questions. Like:

But wait. There’s more. Horner as revealed that he has already found the gene that ‘turns on’ teeth.

Chance of an answer: Nil. The only thing that would prove it is a Mesozoic-era recording of the creature. A reconstruction of the two Tyrannosaurus rex caught in the act of mating at the Jurassic Museum of Asturias in Spain. When he said, “We’re not going to be able to make a dinosaur based on a dinosaur.” he meant we can’t take DNA from a mosquito and even fossils and then ‘make’ a dinosaur.Collagen is the main component of connective tissue and one of the most abundant proteins in living animals. We can’t extract DNA from collagen, at least not Dino DNA. That’s because DNA breaks down too fast and dinosaurs are too old.

Scientists don’t know if T. rex was totally warm blooded or cold blooded, but they think that the giant’s metabolic rate was probably somewhere in between that of crocodiles and birds. A study published last year in PLOS One suggests that cold blooded energetics could not have fueled dinosaurs’ active lifestyles, and thus they probably didn’t regulate their body temperature exclusively by moving into the sun, as modern lizards and crocodiles are known do. If the PLOS One study is true, it is even more likely that newborns had feathers. In June of last year, the Smithsonian reached an agreement with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the skeleton is on loan to the Smithsonian for the next 50 years. At 80 to 85 percent of a full T. rex skeleton, the Wankel T. rex is among the most complete fossils of its kind unearthed, second only to the Chicago Field Museum’s “Sue,” which the Smithsonian tried to acquire in 1997. Beyond these stunning skeletal displays, paleontologists have found some 50 T. rex specimens, since Henry Fairfield Osborn first described the species in 1905. Yes, you’ve read that right! Apparently, someone has come up with the hilarious idea of giving these farm fowls a pair of dinosaur arms. Although this might come as a surprise to many, several studies have actually confirmed the kinship between T-Rex and birds. In fact, contrary to popular belief, the mighty predator shared more of its genetic makeup with birds than with reptiles.

Until a specimen is found with preserved imprints of feathers, though, the jury is out. “We have some opportunity to know if they had feathers because we can find impressions,” says Matthew Carrano, curator of dinosaurs at the National Museum of Natural History. “But it’s highly unlikely that we will ever know its color or the texture of its skin.” These results match predictions made from skeletal anatomy, providing the first molecular evidence for the evolutionary relationships of a non-avian dinosaur.” Chris Organ The mysterious function of T. rex’s short arms has provided an endless source of amusement on the internet. But scientists too have been perplexed by the dichotomy of such a large animal with such tiny, seemingly useless forelimbs. Similar to the initial idea that T. rex used its arms to hold its mate, some have suggested that the arms kept prey in place—a study from 1990 hypothesized that the arms could maneuver at least 400 pounds—or provided lift when the animal stood up on two legs, assuming the animals ever sat on the ground.