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Take a look out your window and you're bound to see a dinosaur or two—or at least the descendant of one. That little blue jay? Dinosaur. The obnoxious early rising crow? Dinosaur. The squirrel running up the tree? Well, that’s still a squirrel. But those feathered friends make your yard a real-life Jurassic Park. Most researchers believe birds are descendants of a group of dinosaurs that included the Tyrannosaurus rex. Fossil research has shown that birds and dinosaurs shared behaviors such as brooding and nest building. According to paleontologist and National Geographic grantee Jack Horner, it also stands to reason that dinosaurs had similar courting behaviors as today’s birds. Because various bird species tap-dance, moonwalk, and boogie to impress potential mates, it makes sense that dinosaurs did the same. Just imagine a giant T. rex with its tiny T. rex arms "twerking" its way into the heart of its intended. In this week’s Today I Learned, Horner explains how dinosaurs might have been the original smooth criminals.Read more about one species of Triceratops, Triceratops horridusAdditional footage provided by Cornell Lab of Ornithology

OoBNa TIL Evanna Lynch, Luna in Harry Potter movies, was pen pals with J.K before she was cast. Battling anorexia, Lynch wrote to Rowling telling her the books gave her hope and asked to be cast as Luna. J.K. told her she'd need to be well first. Lynch said, "In the end, I think that's why I recovered."
R58v1 TIL: The only town officially cursed and excommunicated by the Catholic Church is located in Spain
wngE TIL that the real Top Gun school gives a $5 fine to anyone in the staff that quotes the movie
dD9Lr TIL Despite being invaded by Axis forces during WWII, Egypt remained nominally neutral through most of the war before officially entering it in February of 1945.
b9nxE TIL the deadliest disease outbreak in human history originated in the USA in the early 1900s and killed up to 100 million people worldwide. News of the outbreak went largely unreported due to the Sedition Act and an effort to “keep up morale.”