Scientists say birds are living dinosaurs

Sherna Noah

The Chinese Dino-Birds are going on display at the Natural History Museum in London, the first time they will be exhibited in Europe. Scientists and technicians yesterday (OK) installed the precious fossils in the museum, ready for the opening of the exhibition on July 18.

Experts have been cleaning the 13 fossils ready for display as part of the terms of the loan from the Geological Museum of China in Beijing.

World experts from the museum’s Palaeontology Conservation Unit have shown two Chinese scientists how to restore and preserve the fossils.

Some of the fossils are the only examples of their species in existence and are paper-thin in places.

The star of the exhibition is Fuzzy Raptor, a meat-eating dinosaur covered in small, delicate feathers.

The feathered dinosaurs are between 122 and 125 million years old and are flightless. The Archaeopteryx, the first known feathered creature, is 147 million years old, and is being taken out from behind the scenes of the museum and going on display. The Geological Museum of China is being rebuilt and the fossils will be returned to it after the exhibition in London, Dino-Birds: The Feathered Dinosaurs of China, closes in May next year.