Chickens might be among the closest living relatives of the Dino’s. Birds are the only type of dinosaur that survived the mass extinction caused by an asteroid 140 million years ago.
Scientific analysis of a 68 million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex protein, and compared it to many different animals. Although proteins from alligators were relatively close, the best match by far belonged to ostriches and chickens but proved to be more similar to the chicken than any other creature alive today.
Studies show that only one in four species on Earth survived the asteroid strike and that larger land animals were most effected. The only mammal species that survived were small and omnivorous.
Birds were probably the only dinosaur species to survive for similar reasons: they had become smaller than many other dinosaurs, they were able to fly, and they were omnivorous.