lesser son of greater sires

the tracks of theropods lead straight to birds
unbroken lineage of DNA
if "dinosaurs" are gone, that's merely words
they flit among us to this very day
the Alvarezes found Iridium
that's otherwise uncommon in Earth's crust
and speculated where it had come from
to mark the K-T bound'ry in the dust
few specialists were up to such a test
most species went extinct, but some made do
when worlds collapse, an opportunist's best
positioned to transmit its genome through

a kingly line's diminished much, of late
T. Rex's heir lies roasted on my plate