What did dinosaurs evolve that eventually allowed them to evolve into birds?
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00:00Despite birds these days being known for flight, that wasn't always the case.
00:08Experts believe that most avians evolved from dinosaurs, and at some point they had to develop
00:12wings and take off.
00:13And now experts say they may have discovered that missing link.
00:16I know what you're thinking.
00:17What about pterosaurs, or these massive prehistoric fliers that took to the skies 200 million
00:22years ago?
00:23Well, it turns out those aren't even classified as dinosaurs, and around 120 million years
00:27ago is when scientists believed the first feathered theropods developed the first wings.
00:31And this creature might hold the clues on how they first developed.
00:34Researchers from the University of Tokyo say that this body part, called the propitagium,
00:39evolved first.
00:40A long tendon stretching from the shoulder to the wrist.
00:42But that body part is soft tissue, meaning it doesn't usually survive the fossilization
00:46process.
00:47However, by looking at how it restricts movement, the paleontologists were able to divine which
00:51creature's body positions were more likely to have been restricted by this body part.
00:55And they believe they have found a common ancestor to all Maniraptorans 150 million
00:59years ago that would have had the tissue structure.
01:02And since we believe that birds evolved from these very theropods, it's not much of a leap
01:05to say they've found the missing link.