Did modern birds originate around the time of the dinosaurs' demise, or have they been around far longer"
The question is at the center of a sometimes contentious "rocks versus clocks" debate between paleontologists, whose estimates are based on the fossil record, and scientists who use "molecular clock" methods to study evolutionary history.
A new analysis by researchers at the University of Michigan, the University of Chicago, the Centre for Biodiversity Conservation Mexico and Central America, and Boston University offers the strongest molecular evidence yet for an ancient origin of modern birds, suggesting that they arose more than 100 million years ago, not 60 million years ago, as fossils suggest.
The research was published online Jan. 28 in the journal BMC Biology.
Another ROck vs Clock debate, as they say. I am not that up on my avian evolution, but where would this put this wrt to the maniraptors? Something about this doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but I can't put my finger on it.
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