1.   He has long argued that birds, which have skeletons strikingly similar to those of theropod dinosaurs, descended directly from dinosaurs.

2.   Most paleontologists say that certain theropod dinosaurs were direct ancestors of birds, although some other scientists, particularly ornithologists, do not accept the connection.

3.   The three animals are all theropod dinosaurs, a group that included the ultimate meat-eater, the Tyrannosaurus rex.

4.   The partial skull and skeleton of the two-footed theropod dinosaur was found in Liaoning, a Chinese province that has been a fabulous trove of fossils.