John Ruben

Who is John Ruben?

John A. Ruben, researcher in Zoology and Vertebrate paleontology at the Oregon State University in Corvallis. A big deal of his published research is focused on studying the respiratory system in birds, as well as their metabolism.

Ruben has questioned for many years the theory that birds descend from small carnivorous dinosaurs. He suggest theropods had a diaphragma driven respiratory system which could not have evolved into the complex air sacs in birds. While some have claimed Ruben's research to be flawed, his papers have, nevertheless, appeared in highly regarded, heavily peer-reviewed journals such as Science, Nature and the Journal of Morphology. He has done some research to the dinosaurs Scipionyx and Sinosauropteryx, from which he gives his arguments. Ruben was also part in the 2009 discovery of a close correlation between the immobilized thighbone and complex respiratory systems in birds.