This Is The Missing Link Between Dinosaurs and Birds

What did dinosaurs evolve that eventually allowed them to evolve into birds?

Transcript

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 wings and take off.

00:13And now experts say they may have discovered that missing link.

00:16I know what you're thinking, what about pterosaurs, or these massive prehistoric flyers that took to the skies 200 million years ago?

00:22Well it turns out those aren't even classified as dinosaurs.

00:25And around 120 million years ago is when scientists believe 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 evolved first,

00:39a 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 process.

00:47However, by looking at how it restricts movement, the paleontologists were able to divine which creature's body positions

00:52were more likely to have been restricted by this body part.

00:55And they believe they have found a common ancestor to all manoraptorans 150 million years ago that would have had the tissue structure.

01:01And since we believe that birds evolved from these very theropods, it's not much of a leap to say they've found the missing link.

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