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The Four-Winged Dinosaur
In 2002, the discovery of a beautiful and bizarre fossil astonished scientists and reignited the debate over the origin of flight. With four wings and superbly preserved feathers, the creature 130 million years, was like nothing paleontologists had seen before. In this program, NOVA travels to China stone quarry where the fossil discovered (a famous fossil treasure) and joins leading figures in the world of paleontology, biomechanics, aerodynamics, animation and scientific reconstruction carry out a rather unorthodox experiment: a wind tunnel test flight of a replica of ancient scientists rarity. Dubbed Microraptor, the crow-sized fossil is one of the smallest dinosaurs ever found and one of the most controversial, challenging conventional theories and assumptions about the evolution of flight. But how Microraptor use their wings? Is it extends its arm and leg-mounted wings in the style of an early 20-century biplane to produce lift at low speed? He used it to create a single lifting surface efficient, fast, slip? Do you use some combination of these two methods? Or were the extra wings useless for flight and is likely to have been for other purposes such as attracting a mate?
To answer these questions, NOVA interviews Chinese paleontologist Xu Xing, who first recognized the importance of Microraptor and gave it its name, paleontologist Mark Norell and artist Mick Ellison of the American Museum of Natural History paleontologist Larry Martin of the University of Kansas; anatomist Farish Jenkins of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, and aerodynamics Kenny Breuer of Brown University. In addition, NOVA commissions a “flight-ready” wind tunnel model of Microraptor complete with feathers and articulating joints. Artists have historically played an important role in paleontology, helping to reconstruct the appearance and behavior of ancient animals. In the case of Microraptor, two completely different reconstructions were made, one at the American Museum of Natural History, and the other at the University of Kansas, based on different samples and different techniques. The two very different reconstructions play into a long-standing scientific controversy about the origin of bird flight. For years the debate has been a confrontation between two camps: those who believe dinosaurs were the ancestors of birds, and those who do not.
The Four-Winged Dinosaur,
I agree that birds are evolved from dinosaurs. However, there were some bipedal archosauromorphs that did not lead into dinosaurs. Also, it’s conciveable a quadrupedal animal started living a volant lifestyle by adapting the forelimbs into wings. I agree in principle, but I think it’s foolish to consider anything in palaeontology as definete.
@Portugayse I agree that birds are evolved from dinosaurs. However, there were some bipedal archosauromorphs that did not lead into dinosaurs. Also, it’s conciveable a quadrupedal animal started living a volant lifestyle by adapting the forelimbs into wings. I agree in principle, but I think it’s foolish to consider anything in palaeontology as definete.
Almost certainly wasn;t.
And then THEY’LL bitch about it
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Love the puppets.They gave the kooks a lot of screen time. I suppose they were trying their best to infuse some conflict into it.
Its unbelivable some people still think birds didn’t evolved from dinosaurs. If Microraptor was a crawling critter rather than a dinosaur like the idiots claim, and if birds evolved from something similar to that, birds would more logically be quadrupedal like bats and pterosaurs, not bipeds!
The Micro-Raptor might not have been the only dinosaur with the ability to fly/glide. Many problems have different solutions, so who’s not to say some species evolved by powered flight and some by gliding. Plus the modern birds today have different methods of flying, so feathered dinosaurs probably had different ways to fly, leap, or glide.
The micro raptor was probably species in the evolution branch, there might have been other dinosaurs that could evolve by powered flight and or gliding. Like there are different solutions to problems and how different species of birds have there own way of flying through the air.
Are the feathers you’re talking about for flying (aerodynamic) or for insulation (like down)? Also, (afaik) all chickens today are genetic variations created by humans and not natural selection.
48:59 I’m so glad the emphasize that evolution is not a ladder. Evolution has many branches and I hate when people talk about it in a hierarchy or linear context. Good job PBS!
I don’t think micro-raptor lived primarily in the trees… I’ve seen chickens with feet completely covered in feathers and they have no problem living on the ground, so their logic for it being a arboreal species doesn’t make total sense to me
Yeah, but that fossil has lasted longer than any human made treasure.
Excellent documentary!
maybe that evolved into the chikcen
I’ve seen chickens with feathers in their feet. So why are they so into that fossil when there is living evidence?
pretty cool.
you want to put chickn feathers on every thing but dragons had scale like feathers
HURRAY FOR CONTRADICTIONS! It is possible to walk to the kitchen but it is impossible to walk to the grocery store!
how that is cool
My national treasure is a huge stockpile of Uranium. Care to have challenge?