Study determines how dinosaurs breathed

MANCHESTER, England, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- British scientists have discovered, for the first time, how dinosaurs breathed, thereby providing clues to how they evolved and how they might have lived.

University of Manchester biologists and paleontologists determined theropod dinosaurs -- such as the Velociraptor -- had respiratory systems similar to those of present-day diving birds.

"A number of studies have shown that dinosaurs were the direct ancestors of birds and have identified a suite of avian characteristics in theropods," said Jonathan Codd, who led the study. "Our findings support this view and show that the similarities also extend to breathing structures and that these dinosaurs possessed everything they needed to breathe using an avian-like air-sac respiratory system."

The research appears in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.