All language subtitles for A New Prehistory 2

(mysterious music)

(dramatic music)

(roaring)

- [Narrator] Where do birds come from

and who were their ancestors?

For a long time, these questions
have remained unanswered.

Their family trees stopped
abruptly at the oldest

known species, a fossil found
in 19th century Germany.

Archaeopteryx whose name
comes from the Greek

for ancient wing.

But since 1996, thousands of
animals unearthed in China

have shed new light on
the origin of birds.

(screeching)

(intense music)

This abundance of discoveries
proves that most dinosaurs

were not covered in scales
but clad in feathers.

Some of these feathered
dragons could even fly.

The extent of the Asian
jigsaw puzzle is so vast

that it ties modern day
birds to remarkable distant

cousins and suggests a
multitude of relatives.

(snarling)

During the Jurassic Period,

between 200 and 145 million years ago,

the supercontinent Pangaea opened up

creating separate land masses.

At the edges of this world,
China and Siberia formed

a huge peninsula with a temperate climate

similar to that of modern Europe.

(mysterious music)

The break up of the
continents was accompanied

by volcanic eruptions,
particularly in China.

A paradise in waiting,
inhabited by strange creatures

like Anchiornis.

(chirping)

Meaning near bird, this little dinosaur

is completely covered in feathers.

The size of a modern
day pigeon, Anchiornis

is a long lost relation.

The descendants of this
light weight dinosaur

survived better than other large Theropods

The group that includes
all carnivorous dinosaurs.

(snarling)

Including Guanlongs.

They are efficient
hunters, three meters long

and weighing 50 kilograms.

(snarling)

To escape, Anchiornis was capable

of short gliding flights while its pursuer

was firmly stuck on the ground.

(intense music)

(snarling)

And yet, Guanlong also had feathers.

What were they used for?

(dramatic music)

(roaring)

Erupting volcanoes spewing fine ash

and noxious gases froze
a moment of Jurassic life

for eternity, helping us
answer some of these questions.

This dinosaur paradise has become

the feathered dinosaur's Pompeii.

A huge range of new species has recently

been discovered in one of
China's many construction sites.

Over the last two decades,

in the Liaoning region,
paleontologists have collected

thousands of specimens
hidden for millions of years.

These magnificent fossils are in a state

of almost perfect preservation.

Thanks to the mixture
of extremely fine clay

and volcanic ash sediment.

- Those volcanic eruptions (mumbles)

and bury their bodies
so that's why we have

such beautiful skeleton
and I include soft tissue

preserved, so that's why we come here.

- [Narrator] Paleontologist
Xu Xing and his colleagues

from around the world can
trace the chaotic history

of flight and feathers in these rocks.

- The feather preservation
is really amazing.

- [Narrator] Like detectives,
they examine the clues

to understand what feathers were used for.

And discover how some dinosaurs
from the Theropods family

turned over the course of
millions of years into birds.

The first piece of
evidence in their inquiry

was discovered at the end of
the 19th century in Germany.

Towards the end of the Jurassic Period,

Europe was partly submerged
under a shallow body of water

called The Tethys Sea.

About 150 million years ago,

Germany was dotted with tropical islands.

(ominous music)

Pterosaurs the first flying vertebrates

have dominated the skies
for 80 million years.

This is Germanodactylus one of 150 species

of Pterosaurs discovered.

These flying reptiles are not dinosaurs.

Their fine skin stretches
over their elongated fingers

to create leathery wings.

This membrane along with powerful muscles

and hollow bones makes
them masters of the skies.

(tense music)

But the Pterosaur's
aerial supremacy is about

to be challenged by the very first birds.

Such as Archaeopteryx.

A primitive bird whose claws
at the ends of its wings

raise suspicions amongst
19th century paleontologists.

Its fossils were found around the modern

German town of Sondershausen.

A tropical acapellago during
the late Jurassic Period.

Some islands harbored salted lagoons

where dying animals avoided scavengers.

And were buried by soft
mud that preserved them

in minute detail.

(soft piano music)

Eberhard Frey commonly known as Dino Frey

is the resident expert.

- This is the famous
Sondershausen laminated limestone

and you can actually see
the sediments stapled

up like the leaves of a book.

Inside the leaves of this rocky book,

this is where Archaeopteryx
was found together

with many other fossils
and it's the specialty

of this rock that it is
very, very, very fine grained

and inside this mud, fossils are preserved

like in a tin and this
is why this entire area

is so valuable as a
window in Jurassic times.

- [Narrator] The locals use these stones

to tile their houses.

In the process, uncovering
highly prized treasures

in the history of paleontology.

(mysterious music)

In 1868, faced with the Archaeopteryx,

British biologist Thomas
Henry Huxley asserted

that this was a transitional fossil

between reptiles and birds.

(dramatic music)

A friend of Darwin and an ardent defender

of the Theory of Evolution,
Huxley was an expert anatomist

capable of skilled fossil analysis.

- Until the year 1861,

before Archaeopteryx first discovered,

the only creatures that
were known to have feathers

were the birds.

It was apparent that
this is a fossil bird.

Thomas Huxley looked at it very closely

and he discovered signs that this bird

could also be a dinosaur
actually, a carnivorous dinosaur,

actually shares characters of the two

making it the mixing link
between dinosaurs and birds.

That was a sensation at the time.

(bouncy music)

- [Narrator] The Darwinian
idea of natural selection

is therefore very recent.

Huxley had the insight to see
that Archaeopteryx's teeth,

clawed wings and bony tail
meant that it had similarities

with kon-sog-ni-sus dinosaurs.

Predatory relations
with the Velociraptors.

(snarling)

Archaeopteryx was certainly
no acrobat but it had feathers

and it could fly.

Its collar bones had
already fused together.

A vital step enabling the
wings to flap efficiently

and gain altitude, allowing
it to hunt and nest in trees.

(gentle music)

Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries,

more Archaeopteryx fossils
were unearthed in Germany.

(mysterious music)

- This is specimen number 11.

It's the latest specimen
and it came to light

in the year 2011.

Despite its fragmentary,
it's not completely preserved

because its skull is missing.

It still shows us some
features which are previously

unknown, one of them is that the tail end

shows a V shaped feather configuration

and the second is that you
can see in this specimen

the extent of the feather
travels along the legs.

- [Narrator] The feathers
on its feet are intriguing

since modern birds no longer
show this characteristic.

Is this an exception?

What is sure is that this feature

has not been selected by evolution.

Just like this giant marine reptile.

A Liopleurodon.

(insects buzzing)

Washed up on the shores of the lagoon,

it is a godsend for Archaeopteryx.

The flies attracted by the
carcass provide a hearty meal

for this insect eater.

But being out in the open is
dangerous for Archaeopteryx.

An opportunistic Germanodactylus
sees the prospect

of a protein rich meal.

(tense music)

And doesn't appreciate the competition.

(dramatic music)

Once the mightiest creatures in the skies,

Pterosaurs became extinct by the end

of the Cretaceous Period
65 million years ago.

While Archaeopteryx
descendants grew in number.

Bogged down at the bottom
of the song-hil-fan lagoon,

this remarkable fossil launched the debate

on the relationship between
birds and dinosaurs.

But with insufficient proof,
this theory was shelled

for more than 100 years.

Until new evidence came to light,

at the end of the 20th century in China.

In 1993, in Liaoning,

a huge fossil deposit was found dating

from the Cretaceous Period,
125 million years ago.

This region formerly known as Manchuria

comprises fertile farm land
with fields of corn and pasture.

Farmers were the first one to
uncover fossils inadvertently.

You can see her tomb at a
foot of a cliff fashioned

by volcanic eruptions.

Layers of gray mud alternate with red ash.

Transported to Beijing, these
fossils allow 21st century

researchers new insights
into the feathered dragons.

Like Sinocalliopteryx, the
first discovered in 1996.

This specimen remains
a source of fascination

for one of China's most famous
paleontologists, Xu Xing.

- I remember clearly at
that time when this discover

was announced, everyone got so excited.

We are kind of shocked by
the beauty of the fossil.

If you look at this specimen
closely you see the feathers

cover the whole body.

Over the hair, over the
back, cover all the tail.

A little bit here also I mean lame.

Basically feathers are quite simple.

They are more like your hair.

Before this discovery, some
paleontologists believe

some bird like that should have feathers

but no, we have real evidence
so that's totally different.

- [Narrator] The discovery
of this feathered covered

fossil was astounding.

For the first time, they
had found a dinosaur

with avian characteristics.

Proof that they were
part of the same lineage.

In conifer forests, growing in the shadow

of volcanoes, lived Sinocalliopteryx.

It belonged to a group

of carnivorous dinosaurs called Theropods

These predators use
sight and smell to hunt.

(ominous music)

One of his favorite victims
is zang-e-o-tier-ium.

One of the first mammals.

Sinocalliopteryx's feathers
looked like the down

covering modern day chicks.

They are so different from bird feathers

that for a long time,
skeptics dismissed them

as mere hairs.

(screeching)

(screeching)

In 2010, Xu Xing focused

on Sinocalliopteryx's strange feathers

which looked like the down
covering modern day chicks.

He began with careful
observation of these feathers.

By taking a sample and putting
it under the microscope,

scientists discovered fossilized pigments.

These are melanosomes, cells
that give feathers their color.

Xu Xing discovered circular shapes

that produce a brown pigment
and stick like shapes

that create a gray color.

He deduced the
Sinocalliopteryx was the color

of a squirrel with lighter
stripes on its tail

but that's not all.

- We can use melanosomes
to infer the color,

but more importantly for us,

we wanted to use that
information to support

the hypothesis that those dark impression

in this particle specimen
are part of feathers,

not something else because
if melanosomes are present

we can say quite confidently
those are primitive feathers.

- [Narrator] Sinocalliopteryx
was undoubtedly

covered in feathers but this land animal

was incapable of flight.

So what use was this dino fuzz?

Did it protect this warm
blooded animal from the cold?

Possibly, but this theory
is not easy to prove.

To learn more about
the climate in Liaoning

during this period, Xu Xing teamed up

with the laboratory in France.

This Theropod tooth bought back from China

by geologist Romain Amiot holds the key

to this meteorological mystery.

- [Translator] A lot of
researchers thought that fossils

from that time couldn't
preserve the weather conditions

recorded during the animal's lifetime.

It was a big challenge.

We were going to test something unknown.

Could we find out climate
information or not?

- [Narrator] In a sense,
we can test the water

the dinosaurs drank.

A chemical reaction with
the oxygen preserved

in tooth enamel reveals the temperature

of the atmosphere 120 million years ago.

Romain made a major
discovery that radically

altered our preconceptions.

- [Translator] At the time,
there was a global climate

that was similar or a little colder

than current temperatures
which is very different

from what we thought about
the period of the dinosaurs

that we had imagined as hot, tropical

and the same throughout the world.

Where Liaoning is, the climate was similar

to what we have in the north of France

with very harsh winters.

So dinosaurs would have
seen snow in winter.

So feathers were an insulating material.

It meant they could keep
warm and keep active

throughout the year like any
other warm blooded animal.

- [Narrator] Coincidentally
just as Romain published

his research, the discovery
of large sized dinosaurs

confirmed his work.

Yutyrannus, the aptly
named feathered tyrants,

were the super predators of the time.

Due to their large size, the
remains of T-Rex's cousins

are kept in a warehouse
in a suburb of Beijing.

(mysterious music)

- Yutyrannus is really an amazing animal.

It's a really big animal,
about one half tons

in body mass.

Its body covered by feathers,
really long feathers,

so this is unexpected.

Traditionally we thought,

when an animal get bigger
it's mostly the same.

The loss feathers, reduce feathers,

at least feathers are kind of sparse,

but here we have a
large body that dinosaur

with dense, and long feathers.

So this is bizarre.

- [Narrator] The fact that
such a large warm blooded

animal was covered in feathers suggests

that its body size was not sufficient

to regulate its temperature.

So the climate must have been very cold.

The discovery of the largest
feathered animal ever found

confirms the hypotheses
of a temperate climate

with harsh winters.

(solemn music)

It proves that the Theropod
dinosaur of Liaoning

wandered into the winter
snow 125 million years ago.

And that the feathers of
the little Sinocalliopteryx,

the huge Yutyrannus, protected
them from cold temperatures

in this region of the northern hemisphere.

(tense music)

(roaring)

(roaring)

The insulating property
of feathers remains

a feature in modern birds.

But it is not sufficient
to explain how surface

dwelling dinosaurs evolved
over millions of years

to become birds.

Among the Theropods living in Liaoning,

was there only one type of feather?

And at what state did
dinosaurs begin to fly?

Over time, Chinese
paleontologists have unearthed

many feathered creatures.

On some fossils, like the Caudipteryx,

discovered in 1998, Xu Xing found feathers

that were not just simple filaments.

With its large feet, it
looks much like an ostrich.

- In this fossil, there's some really

beautiful feather impression.

Here you see two hands of this animal

and here is a middle finger.

You see feathers attached
to the finger, this surface.

They go this way so quite a big feathers.

(soft music)

- [Narrator] Caudipteryx
literally meaning tail feather

comes from the same Chinese site

as Sinocalliopteryx, in the same period,

125 million years ago.

(screeching)

(gentle music)

Scientists imagine that
these chicks were imprinted

on their mothers just like modern birds

and followed them everywhere more or less.

(squeaking)

Weighing almost 20 kilograms,

the female Caudipteryx can't fly,

neither can her youngsters.

So why do these animals
have long feathers?

Could they serve a
purpose other than warmth?

Feathers begin as a simple filament.

Which divides to form
a pom pom before barbs

appear around the hollow shaft.

But at this stage in their development,

feathers are symmetrical
and air passes through them.

- So it is not fly animals,
it's fast running animal

living on the ground,
so what's the function?

Apparently those feathers
are not used for flight.

That was a possibility most people believe

is a display.

- [Narrator] Just like many birds,

the males and females were
physically very different.

Paleontologists believe
that the male Caudipteryx

displayed his shimmering feathers in order

to attract females.

(screeching)

These cultured rituals
along with natural selection

stimulated an anatomical transformation.

Caudipteryx were among the first Theropods

to possess a shorter tail that
supported their display furs.

(screeching)

In order to fly, they were still missing

a fundamental element, flight feathers.

(tense music)

Seen under a microscope,
this feather comes

from another dinosaur discovered in 2000

by Xu Xing himself.

It is a vital clue to solving the mystery

of the origin of flight.

- Here the feathers are
highly asymmetrical.

Asymmetrical feathers
are normally considered

to be associated with flight capability.

- [Narrator] These feathers
are identical to those

of modern birds.

It may be proof that
some dinosaurs could fly.

- Microraptor is definitely
the most amazing species

that discovered so far.

It is dinosaur but you see it
has asymmetric flat feathers.

Not only are the feathers on the arms,

but also on the feet.

We call the (mumbles) condition.

This is really, really bizarre.

I don't know, we have quite good evidence

suggesting this foreign
condition is related

to the origin of flight.

- [Narrator] For a long
time, paleontologists

believed that two legged
dinosaurs run along the ground

in order to take off,

but Microraptor's climbing claws opened

up a new possibility.

125 million years ago in the part of China

that Microraptor called home,

the ground was fertilized by volcanic ash

that encouraged the
growth of lush vegetation.

Tall trees add a vertical
dimension to the landscape

and the Microraptor, meaning small thief,

takes advantage of them.

(chirping)

Microraptors sported feathers
on its arms and legs.

With its full wings, it
was probably the world's

first base jumper.

(chirping)

Full wings offer an advantage for gliding,

but not for walking.

A Microraptor on the ground,
is a Microraptor in danger.

(tense music)

(screeching)

According to Xu Xing, tree
dwelling feathered dinosaurs

like these would evolve to become birds.

To better understand this transition,

paleontologists teamed up

with an ornithologist Zhongue Zhou.

In front of him is an
incredible collection

of primitive birds found at sia-tomb.

Like the feathered dinosaurs
from the same site,

they all date from the Cretaceous period

125 million years ago.

- I think there are over 500s of specimens

of Confuciusornis collected
in this museum alone.

I think this is the largest collection

Confuciusornis in the whole world.

This bird, like Confuciusornis,
they're only later

than the earliest bird Archaeopteryx

and they are transitionally
many flight-er apparatus,

many features.

- [Narrator] Despite the
claws on their wings,

they are very similar to modern birds.

They no longer have teeth
or a long bony tail.

They also have a focular,
the famous chicken wishbone

for attaching muscles
to wings and the males

have two ceremonial ribbons
ornamenting their behinds.

(solemn music)

This sexual variation is similar to that

of the feather dinosaur called Dipteryx.

Like him, the male has
long feathers that he uses

to lure the ladies.

(screeching)

Competition is tough and courting displays

are often interrupted.

(volcano rumbling)

- Also you can see the bird
start climbing the trunk

with very big claws in the wing.

Now you see the bird can
perch on the branches

of the trees because
the hallux of the foot

is already reversed,
much like a modern bird.

(screeching)

- [Narrator] Confuciusornis'
narrow feathers were not well

adapted to gliding, but
would've allowed it to fly

by flapping its wings, albeit clumsily.

But natural selection is at work,

retaining only the most adapt genes.

Yet the presence of many birds found

at the same location
as feathered dinosaurs

does not necessarily prove
that they were related.

If birds had already diversified
125 million years ago,

Yutyrannus and other
Theropods may have been merely

an evolutionary dead end.

So when did the first birds appear?

Did they share a common ancestor
with feathered dinosaurs?

And how did their ancestors begin flying?

To answer these questions,
Chinese paleontologists

have one last card up their sleeves.

West of Liaoning, a new
fossil bed was revealed

during the construction of a motorway.

In 2009, a finely
preserved Anchiornis dating

from the Jurassic Period
was found near here.

It's become a crucial
piece in Xu Xing's puzzle.

- This site is very important
for at least one reason.

We know that Archaeopteryx,
the earliest known bird

is from about 145 million
years but most other feathered

dinosaurs are from early
Cretaceous or even later.

So this dinosaur was living
in 160 million years ago.

Earlier than Archaeopteryx
so that means there are some

feathered dinosaurs
predates Archaeopteryx,

the earliest bird.

That's cracked the time sequence.

- [Narrator] This new fossil
puts an end to the debate.

Feathered dinosaurs are undoubtedly older

than the first birds.

Today, Xu Xing discovers a fish.

Confirmation that Anchiornis
lived in a rich ecosystem.

This little four winged
Theropod must've been

a victim to giant predators.

(screeching)

In the Jurassic Period, Pterosaurs
like these Darwinopterus

ruled the skies.

With talon like claws and a
wing span of over a meter wide,

they were the equivalent of
modern day birds of prey.

Their ability to fly and
perform aerial acrobatics

was beyond that of the
feathered dinosaurs.

Faced with this constant danger,

Anchiornis sought shelter in the forest.

But this little dinosaur
was also threatened

from the ground.

Its only shelter lies
in the restricted area

between the ground and the sky, the trees.

It glides down to feed
in the under growth.

Its surface area is
smaller than Microraptor

so it falls more quickly.

With its long back legs,
Anchiornis is built

like a sprinter, but its
lengthy feathers are a hindrance

on the ground.

Its long legs are an
advantage for foraging

or rushing to the nearest shelter.

If such a thing exists.

(tense music)

(screeching)

Though clumsy, Anchiornis
showed the dinosaurs

attempted to fly from
trees using four wings.

On this rare fossil, the
rear leg feathers are visible

to the naked eye.

To refine his theory, Xu
Xing continues his research

using a medical scanner.

X-rays of Anchiornis' skeleton
will be digitized in 3D

in order to study its biomechanics.

- But honestly there are some debates

how exactly the animals
use their leg wings.

Some people believe the
leg wings are not really

related to flight, maybe
it's a display structure.

If you look at other
dinosaurs, their leg normally

is underneath the body.

(mumbles)

One possibility may be
Anchiornis can project

its leg slightly laterally.

- [Narrator] To compensate
for the lack of a wishbone,

Anchiornis used its rear
leg feathers to improve

its gliding ability.

The discovery of Anchiornis
proves that dinosaur flight

was a result of trial and
error in the evolution

of anatomy and feathers.

Surprisingly, new
information about the origin

of feathers was soon to
appear from over the border.

In Siberia, in the summer of 2013,

the first Russian feathered
fossils made their appearance.

1,500 kilometers north of Beijing,

in the Transbaikal Step, a
team of Russians and Belgians

worked together at the excavation site.

When local geologists
found the first bones,

they invited paleontologist
Pascal Godefroit

from the Royal Institute of Belgium

to take part in this
revolutionary discovery.

- [Translator] We're
at the Kulinda deposit

in southeast Siberia.

The hills you can see behind
me, date from the Jurassic

Period between 145 and
160 million years ago

and Russian geologists who
were prospecting in the area

in 2010 found the first dinosaur bones

which have been extremely
important for reconstructing

the evolution of plumage
and feathers in dinosaurs.

- [Narrator] As curiosity aroused,

Pascal assembled a team to
search the site for themselves.

It's a lengthy process,
requiring a deep layer

of soil to be removed
to get to the fossils.

But after several days,
the teams work starts

to show results.

- [Translator] Look at that.

That's quite a big deal.

Just there at the edge.

Oh wow, that's one.

(speaks foreign language)

So here at the edge of the plate,

you can see very fine little filaments

and these are feathers, dinosaur feathers.

You can see that the filaments
converge towards the base

so these are composite feathers.

It's a primitive kind of down that we find

on some primitive dinosaurs.

- [Narrator] Compared to the
impressive Chinese discoveries

these fossils may seem
a little underwhelming

but the paleontologists
are thrilled to discover

a completely new animal species.

During the Jurassic Period,
the Chinese peninsula

was covered in a vast forest of conifers.

While Siberia was much more hostile.

The arid climate had a huge seasonal

variations in temperature and
intense volcanic activity.

One of the keys to
conserving precious fossils.

Only fragments of skeletons
are found at Kulinda.

To begin with, the Russians
thought that the feathers

came from fossilized birds.

The scales from crocodiles.

And the bones from a
small predatory dinosaur.

But Pascal was not convinced
by this hypothesis.

In 2014, he reanalyzed all the fossils

and suggested an entirely
different explanation.

- [Translator] It's a bit
like going into a cemetery

and gathering up loose bones.

You have small tibias, large tibias,

little femurs and big
femurs but they all have

the same ornithology so
we can tell they all come

from the same type of dinosaur

that we called Kulindadromeus.

Because of the large number
of disconnected bones

that we found at Kulinda,

we now know that
Kulindadromeus was a small

herbivore dinosaur that was
fast, slender and agile.

- [Narrator] This is the
first ever feathered herbivore

dinosaur to be discovered.

A separate branch of
the dinosaur family tree

from the carnivorous Theropods.

Kulindadromeus lived in herds.

Just like wildebeest migrations in Africa,

large predators such as
Sinraptor must've closely

followed the movements of these dinosaurs.

(roaring)

- [Translator] This is a real revolution.

What it means is that all
dinosaurs who potentially

have had feathers.

- [Narrator] Feathers would have appeared

on an ancestor that was
common to both groups.

It could be as old as
dinosaurs themselves.

First seen in the Triassic
Period 220 million years ago.

(ominous music)

The misfortunes of this
group of herbivores

have led paleontologists
to the origins of feathers.

(roaring)

Thanks to Kulindadromeus,
we now know that the first

feathered dinosaur, the common ancestor

of the carnivores and the herbivores

remains to be found in
fossil beds going back

to before the Jurassic Period.

(roaring)

But who knows what other secrets
could be found in Siberia?

And what clues could be hidden
in other parts of the world

to document the early
history of the bird dynasty?

(whimpering)

(solemn music)

(volcano rumbling)

(dramatic music)