From Dinosaurs to Birds: The Remarkable Evolutionary Journey Unveiled | Dinosaur Documentary

dinosaurs are not extinct although the mighty Tyrannosaurus won't make an appearance on your morning commute to work you won't see a pack of true daunted's leap over your back garden fence and the vast herds of Hadrosaurus are a thing of the past dinosaurs still Walk Among Us in the form of birds all birds are descended from theropod dinosaurs this is not just a theory but a scientifically proven fact Birds aren't related to dinosaurs they are dinosaurs avian dinosaurs with the end Cretaceous or kpg Extinction all of the non-avian dinosaurs perished and became extinct leaving behind a world of relatively small creatures among them were the feathered ancestors of the theropods some of which fluttered around from Branch to branch some of which stalked the forests on Long Earthbound legs you look outside your window right now regardless of where you are in the world you'll probably see a bird pending on your location this could be anything from a chaff inch to a cardinal a goal to a gnat catcher a buzzard to a bird of paradise over ten thousand species exist today and they compose arguably our most beautiful animals brightly colored plumages and beautiful songs have inspired naturalists bird watchers poets authors musicians and painters over the course of human history but it is only relatively recent science that places these amazing creatures in the same family tree as the now extinct non-avian theropod dinosaurs in today's video we will be exploring this ancestry in detail foreign how exactly do we go from dromosaurs to Ducks doves and dunlins the journey is long and often convoluted spanning millions of years of Natural History but it is indeed a fascinating Tale we will take a look not only at how these creatures evolved but also some of the marvelous forms of avian dinosaurs that thrived throughout the Deep annals of prehistory our journey begins in the forests of the Jurassic period and for the foreseeable future is still yet to conclude as long as the birds are singing in the trees and skies of our planet the dinosaurs are still with us the similarities between extinct non-avian theropod dinosaurs and modern birds are plentiful the key similarities are obvious feathers all birds have them plenty of extinct theropods had them and they can provide an array of different functionalities and benefits feathers can help camouflage a bird or to make it more colorful and attractive to a mate they can serve to keep a bird warm or to allow its Sleek streamlined movement in the water primarily though the feathers of many birds allow these creatures to fly something that their non-avian ancestors as far as we know could not do birds and non-avian theropod dinosaurs also both possess very similar foot structures with four digits tipped with claws in the non-avians these claws were used primarily for tearing and flesh useful and deadly weapons that could allow a dromosaur the bird's closest extinct relative to bring down creatures much larger than itself Birds however use these features primarily for gripping onto branches and perching some birds have taken this back to the time of the dinosaurs Birds of Prey and large ratites such as cassowaries use these claws as deadly weapons for attack and defense making them some of the most respected and feared creatures in nature it is undeniable that modern birds and extinct theropod Dinosaurs show very similar traits the birds in fact are most closely related to the dromosaurs and the true daunteds the former include the famed sickle claw Raptor dinosaurs such as Velociraptor dromosaurus dinonicus Utahraptor and Pyro Raptor among a whole host of many others the latter are a slightly lesser-known group of live slender theropods with such examples including signorno authorities sinovanidor May Latina venadrix and the waste basket tax on Troodon which may or may not have been valid at all dinosaurs were Manny wrapped are in cellular sore therabonds closely related to the Tyrannosaurus therizinosaurs and ornithomimods amongst others the dromosaurs and true dantids were all feathered primarily carnivorous successful groups of dinosaurs agile and lightly built they are often depicted as intelligent pack Hunters although evidence of this is lacking like the birds they were diverse the largest of these groups included creatures such as Utahraptor a roughly six meter long apex predator of the iconic hellcreek formation whereas the smallest included the popular microraptor a tiny dinosaur with a coat of iridescent feathers that was perfectly adapted to gliding from tree to tree in the forests of Cretaceous China in the Jurassic period it started to become difficult to determine where non-avian dinosaurs ended and birds began in the early 1860s a fossil was discovered that would change everything we knew about the evolution of birds at that point setting us on a path to several paleontological revolutions archeopteryx you'll likely have seen an illustration of this creature if you've ever read a book on dinosaurs usually in older books it was the only feathered creature depicted alongside skinny shrink wrap dromosaurs and other large theropods roughly the size of a crow and known from 12 immaculately preserved individuals archeopteryx was a bird on Earth from Germany's solenhofen limestone this little creature was akin to a non-avian theropod in form ER to many other known species with its long tail clawed digits toothed jaws and bipedal stance but these fossils show distinct proof of feathers this creature was a bird but a bird that showed distinctly dinosaurian traits this led to a common German name for the animal ervogel or first bird archeopteryx with concrete evidence of a sort of intermediate fossil between one group of organisms the dinosaurs and another the birds the scientific world was shocked for the next 100 years opinions on what exactly this creature was were rocked back and forth could it Fly did it Glide did it even live in trees was it a dinosaur or a bird paleontologist John Ostrom a key figure in the dinosaur Renaissance the scientific movement which saw the world betray dinosaurs as energetic diverse creatures as they were portrayed in Jurassic Park at the time had a leading theory in the 1970s Ostrom suggested that archeopteryx was a creature more akin to a dinosaur than a bird and that it hunted on the ground Greg Paul in the 1980s took this Theory into his own hands suggesting that not only did archeopteryx live on the ground but that it didn't even live near trees at all he figured that the creature lived in arid Landscapes where trees were sparse but that it was capable of flight he suggested that it fed on insects like a swallow or a Swift hogging across the water's edge to catch its food he was also the first scientist to place archeopteryx in the dromeiosaurid family today views are still conflicted but we do know some of the facts archeopteryx's teeth suggest that it did indeed eat insects but it possibly strayed into vertebrate territory to supplement its diet perhaps small reptiles were also taken whether this little creature could fly or not is still a hot topic of debate there are those that think archeopteryx could push itself off the ground with ease and there are those that claim that it was not suited to a life in the trees it did indeed live in an arid environment and generally paleontologists have noted that its feet are flat and adapted to a life on the ground archeopteryx played a pivotal part in helping us to understand the links between dinosaurs and birds with its numerous crossovers in terms of anatomy and lifestyle today it is agreed that archeopteryx is a dromeiosaur and that it is closely related to birds but science is science and the debate rages on in the background based on the shared features between archeopteryx and early birds it didn't take scientists long to theorize that birds are simply just another offshoot of the theropod family tree in the Jurassic period creatures similar to archeopteryx and its relatives began to break off from the norm adapting their feathers further as their environments changed and became more sparsely vegetated thus releasing the precious power of flight through trial and error and millions and millions of years the avian form was perfected and by the end of the Jurassic period large numbers of birds were calling and fluttering High amongst the trees and open Airways of our prehistoric planet as we continue to unearth more and more species of extinct theropod dinosaur we come to learn more and more about how these creatures have evolved recent discoveries in China have shown that some of the non-avian dinosaurs that existed throughout the Cretaceous were more bird-like than we once thought and recent depictions of creatures such as ankiornis and microraptor show these creatures as almost interchangeable we have even started to uncover the specific colors of some of these early dinosaurs plumages which add to this further we'll say it once more there is no doubt about it birds are dinosaurs once the birds have evolved they quickly spread out into multiple different forms functions colors and sizes for the majority of the Mesozoic Era the most widespread and well-known group of birds was the enantiorno themes the vast majority of these birds were relatively small retained the teeth of their dinosaur ancestors and possessed small hooked claws on their wings something that has vanished in pretty much all modern Burns over 80 species of an anti-ornipine birds are known and they don't compose all of the birds extend in the Mesozoic but they were indeed widespread many of the Genera extincts throughout the Mesozoic resembled modern day passerine birds or perching Birds but with a significantly more dinosaurian twist Alex ornis for example was a small wren-like creature which likely lived in trees and Shrubbery in Lake Cretaceous Mexico parvavis was more akin to a bird of paradise with its long tapering tail feathers on the end of a plump short body you want to have this was Magpie like possessing a long fan of tail feathers which may have been used for display purposes to attract mates some in antioornithine birds were more atypical however falca tackly was a creature which recalled the modern day toucans and hornbills it retained the lengthy snout of its dinosaurian ancestors with only a single tooth in its mouth roughly the size of a crow it is known from fossil deposits in Madagascar where it lived alongside several species of non-avian dinosaur Hollander native to Lake Cretaceous Mongolia was much more similar to a wading bird with long legs and a slender bill stranger still were the AV sorets a group whose birds were very similar to the dinosaurs they evolved from retaining appearances very similar to dromosaurs miraraki is one such bird which lived in the Western United States during the Cretaceous where it would have coexisted with Dinosaurs such as cosmoseratops and Parasaurolophus new quenornis another avisaurid looked superficially similar to the aforementioned archeopteryx although it lacked the long bony tail slightly larger was the family's namesake avisaurus which would have lived in floodplains and rivers around where the Western interior Seaway would have cut through North America in the lake Cretaceous the enantiorno themes were by no means the only Mesozoic Birds however a good place to discover the early diversification of avian dinosaurs would be the forests of Cretaceous China where many different bird species started to fly through the trees and across the Lakes Confucius ornis is one such bird a well-known little creature which was common to the area with a heavily feathered plump body and long tapering tail feathers this little bird would have been a master of display as it fluttered about the trees many specimens of this little bird have been uncovered in a crushed state which until very recently has made it difficult for scientists to describe exactly what it may have looked like search for Confucius horness on the internet and you'll likely be met by a number of differing body shapes and forms as a result of this jehlornis lived in these forests too another crow-sized creature which would have flown from tree to tree feeding on the seeds of the Native cycads and ginkos the region had to offer it is often depicted in a similar manner to the toracos of modern day central Africa colorful birds with elaborate head crests used for display and communication purposes yeah nordness was more surprising still also native to Cretaceous China it was a definite piece of War feeding on the fish that thrived in the lakes in What Would One Day become China's liaoning province superficially this bird would have resembled a turn or Gull as it dived on Long steady Wings after the fish had Hunted but in terms of The evolutionary record of burns gulls and enormous are a long way apart towards the coasts a whole new group of Mesozoic birds were staking their claim to the Seas and oceans of our prehistoric planet the hesperornas were a group of birds that visually would have resembled penguins only with exceptionally long necks and strange fin-like feet the most famous is the group's namesake hesperornis which would have thrived in huge colonies along the shores and beaches of the United States in the Cretaceous the hesperornets were among the most notable and large of the Mesozoic Burns and would have lived and hunted much like modern day loons grebes and cormorants diving after their prey before returning to their colonies on the shoreline they would have been Sleek capable swimmers which would have been coexisting with some of the most infamously terrifying creatures of the Cretaceous sharks mosasaurs and giant theropods while some species were at home on the coasts creatures such as bratavus where freshwater hesperornipine Burns feeding on the fish that thrived in the interior waterways of Cretaceous North America some of the most spectacular and famous Mesozoic Burns lived throughout the late Cretaceous many older dinosaur books featured a bird known as ichthornis a toothed species which would have lived and looked much like a modern day herringal although it was named because of its fish-shaped vertebrae this bird would have thrived in large numbers on diets of fish in what is now the central United States presumably noisily flocking over the Western interior Seaway above the Shadows of the mosasaurs over in Europe specifically southern France the largest Birds yet were beginning to evolve the ones that would lay the foundations for the titans of the cenozoic gargantu Avis as the name would suggest was a massive two meter tall bird which would have looked and lived much like a modern cassowary flightless it would have walked alongside the dinosaurs of the region disproving the initial theory that large flightless birds did not evolve until the non-avian dinosaurs had died out early docs also began to evolve in the Cretaceous teviornis native to Mongolia in the cretaceous's final stages was uncannily similar to Modern ducks in the sense that it had a broad flat bill used for dabbling through the water but it was more similar in form to Historic or crane wading along the water's edge on Long Legs lowering its lengthy neck down to the water to feed despite the strange appearance it was still tiny at around 15 centimeters long it was smaller than most modern ducks the Ducks had even made it to Antarctica by the end of the Cretaceous vegavis was one such genus roughly the size of a goose it was pretty much typical in Form and Function but it was the first Mesozoic bird to be discovered from a group existing into the modern day for a long time after the non-avian dinosaurs claimed to the Earth came to a close many creatures that existed in the undergrowth were small shrew-like creatures bounded through the undergrowth and the first lemur-like animals crept through the trees but they were not alone birds were a constant presence in the paleocene and eocene forests of the early cenozoic era and ranged greatly from small fluttering species to large flightless animals in the end Cretaceous Extinction event four major groups of birds persisted into the cenozoic these were the paleognaths which include ostriches emus and their relatives and siriformis which include Ducks swans geese and their relatives galliformis including creatures related to pheasants Grouse coil and turkeys and finally the neowabs which comprised many groups of modern Birds among the neolovs are all the accent groups of burns from Hawks to flamingos from greebes to flycatchers from hummingbirds to Pelicans many of these groups were yet to evolve until the late cenozoic but various groups were widespread and flourishing sea birds such as australoris soared along the coasts while early relatives of penguins such as cross Valia gathered in large colonies below in the forests lived early relatives of owls creatures such as burrowornus that sported large forward-facing eyes like their modern descendants some of these ancient Birds grew huge however gastornis placed in a family named after itself was a giant among dwarves wandering The Woodlands on pillar-like legs and sporting a deep bulky beak on the end of its face recalling the mighty theropods this was the first example of birds growing to become some of the largest land animals on Earth debate persists as to whether gastornis was a herbivore or carnivore elsewhere in the early cenozoic lived Presby ornis a creature related to ducks that took on a four more similar to that of a flamingo with long graceful legs and a winding s-shaped neck New York authorities shows an example of a bird related to cranes and rails taking on the flesh-eating lifestyle of a vulture in yet another example of modern bird groups filling atypical ecological niches in the prehistoric world as the cenozoic progressed so did its Burns The latery Parks of the scene of zoagara saw the induction of the mighty Terror Birds to the world these creatures many of which were taller than adult humans storm the American grasslands on powerful long legs in a manner akin to the extinct Tyrannosaurus furus rakis is the most commonly known genus but Kellen Ken was the biggest a Colossus that used its beak as an ax to tear down the herbivorous mammals it fed on in the pleistocini park birds were growing massive all over the world AP orness otherwise known as the elephant bird conquered the island of Madagascar whereas dinornis the giant MOA thrived on New Zealand up until the Maris settled in the area and wiped them out Jenny ornis was a bizarre creature native to Australia ostrich in form but more closely related to ducks giant owls thrived on Cuba and colossal storks made their home in Southeast Asia argentavis was a gigantic relative of condors that thrived in South America and palagornis some of the largest flying birds ever to live were Pelican relatives that thrived by the coasts and oceans in their massive Shadows however newer groups of small birds were steadily evolving passerens the massive group of purging birds that contains around half of all known species emerged in the cenozoic pasarines can now be found in almost every corner of the planet comprising a huge number of families and genuses the mammals might be known for Conquering the cenozoic but the birds simply cannot be ignored foreign of modern day Birds is simply astounding over ten thousand species are currently in existence and these species exist on every continent on the planet birds are extreme creatures ranging in size from the massive common ostrich to the tiny bee hummingbird small enough to purge on the tip of a pencil birds have mastered the blistering heat of the deserts road runners sand Grouse and some species of Ren and Sparrow are supremely suited to thriving and these inhospitable areas meanwhile Birds such as Penguins sheath bills albatrosses and skewers have conquered the poles the coldest regions of the planet which for much of the year are cloaked in ice and snow Birds compose the most beautiful of all living creatures the tropics are filled with some of the most brightly colored species of parrot Pitta trogen bird of paradise hummingbird and toucan with beautiful vibrant plumages suited to attracting mates and competing with rivals in some areas of the world birds are also extremely odd podus thrive in the inky Blackness of South and Central American rainforests where their piercing yellow eyes and screeching croaking call has become infamous some species of grouse and pheasant launch bizarre fleshy appendages from their faces and throats when lagging to impress females and even some species of ducks such as iders and skoders could make the most seasoned Wildlife enthusiasts take a Second Glance in sunburns the resemblance to dinosaurs is more apparent than others the cassowaries of Southeast Asia and Australia are a prime example with their sharp blade-like claws featherless necks and bony headcasks the shoe bill of central Africa looks almost like a large theropon with its bulky beak and menacing glare in the forests of South America baby Watsons retain claws on their wings to grip onto branches that overhang the mighty Amazon River giving off a distinct dromius or look the hornbills of Southeast Asia and Africa recall these ancient beasts also with their reptilian facial structures and bizarre crests the birds of prey retain the carnivorous nature of the extinct non-avian theropod dinosaurs creatures such as the Majestic golden eagle and the great gray owl are almost like modern day equivalents of the Velociraptor agile feathered predators that Inspire respect and fear in US however even in the house of sparrows and blue tits that might frequent your back Garden the resemblance is still there the claws and Feathers sported by even the most innocent looking of birds still recall the gigantic Utah Raptor that legendary feathered apex predator of Lake Cretaceous North America the diversification and beauty of modern Burns or perhaps we should say avian dinosaurs is what has driven the human race to adore them as such bird watching has become a major industry in some regions of the world where tourists will pay thousands to witness some of our planet's rarest and most majestic species in the flesh certain scientists devote their careers to the study of birds ornithology and we have learned much about them over the years still there is much to learn and many questions have been left unanswered throughout history even going into pre-history birds have influenced our culture ancient cave paintings of birds exist in some of the oldest settlements established by Our Kind and birds are prominent across many religions and cultures throughout our species those both archaic and those major in a modern day bird watching has even been linked to improving our Mental Health spending time outdoors with Our Feathered Friends can genuinely make us happier and healthier so why not do it go out and Discover the dinosaurs that still exist in your area today get to know them you'll be surprised at what you might see at your local nature reserve across the year we are lucky to continue to share a world with Dinosaurs many species of bird may not live up to the nature of the infamous Tyrannosaurus Rex but the science has proved that these little fluttering creatures prominent in art and poetry for centuries are direct descendants of the amazing reptiles that once ruled our planet sadly however many species of bird are now under threat deforestation the Caged Bird trade and over hunting have driven many species of tropical bird to the brink of Extinction but that isn't all even locally some species of birds are in danger of becoming regionally extinct in the areas in which they once thrived rewilding incentives and conservation efforts are doing all they can to protect this but those in charge still need to do more to ensure that these amazing descendants of the Earth's most wondrous creatures persist long into the future

Channel: Dinosaur Discovery

Views: 118,185

Keywords: dinosaurs, prehistoric, paleontology, fossils, T-Rex, Triceratops, Velociraptor, Jurassic, Cretaceous, dinosaur facts, dinosaur discoveries, dinosaur species, dinosaur battles, dinosaur extinction, dinosaur history, dinosaur evolution, dinosaur documentaries, dinosaur animations, dinosaur science, dinosaur habitats, dinosaur behavior, dinosaur enthusiasts, paleontologists, dinosaur mysteries, dinosaur fossils, dinosaur research, dinosaur dig, dinosaur bones

Id: sBCwKeXnA0A

Length: 37min 21sec (2241 seconds)

Published: Fri May 05 2023