It's Becoming Very Clear That Birds Are Not Normal

A new discovery raises an important question: from an evolutionary perspective, who really has the stranger wings?

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Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios

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[dracodracarys]

the next time you think speculative evolution is weird, remember that hummingbirds are _a theropod dinosaur filling the ecological niche of a bee._

[fredbarron]

I'm nearly 40 years old, I cannot remember a time in my life where I have not been learning about dinosaurs and prehistory in general and still to this day I come across new things that I would never even have imagined. Every time I find something like this I feel like I am 5 years old and the world is brand new again.

[egok]

Loved the video. I knew pterosaurs were featherless flyers and so are bats but didn't realize that membraned wings are such a common design that had developed independently so many times. I also didn't fully appreciate how unique feathered wings are. Long live the birds.

[magnificentname]

7:45 "and if birds were to go extinct the skies of planet earth would be feather free and might remain that way forever" that enlightened me, just imagine how many prehistoric creatures had specialized features that were unique to them and never ever again these characteristics would return in any form
Just imagine how many unique creatures could have evolved with how many special features that could have been there

[MasterArchfiend]

“Birds are weird” is probably the understatement of history of humanity. Still love them.

[pluspiping]

This video definitely shifted my perspective, noticing how common membrane wings are, and a new awe and respect how incredibly complex flight feathers are. Never going to look at them the same again.

[KoneSkirata]

I was confused as to why this group went extinct, when bats became very successful. But the timeline cleared it up: This dinosaur group didn't disappear in the KPG-mass extinction, but long before that, right? Not because of a disaster, but because their niche was overtaken by more successful feathered dinosaurs.

[Ratty]

These guys seem like the closest thing to having real dragons that existed in the past. I love them.

[infrequentflyer]

Did the earliest birds catch the earliest worms?

[megansfo]

Even without references to dragons or dinosaurs, birds are magical creatures. As an artist who began drawing and painting terrestrial animals at an early age, I am now only interested in birds. They are endlessly fascinating.

[nileshkumaraswamy]

It's a testament to how incredibly unique feathered birds are that they're still around and still so successful!

[itsmebatman]

I never thought about it like that, but objectively speaking birds are truly a crazy design. Their whole anatomy is wild. Of course, if they want to fly they have to have a body that is tailored for that. And man, their bodies are really, really tailored to flying, except for those few of them that can't fly, which is bizarre in its own right.

[JoeBob]

It's interesting how birds essentially gave up an extra set of "hands" just for better flight. It kind of suggests that they depended on their beaks more and more over time, while depending on their hands/claws less and less.
Like two parts of the body evolving together, in tandem, in different directions. Obviously flying had some major advantages for them.

[f_r_e_d]

i had my first birb when a parakeet flew through my window and squatted. i named him julio, got him a girl and listened to him chirp for so many years. one day his sweetheart took a one way flight in her dreams and julio was devastated. he barely sang for about a week until he joined her in this dream

[Summer-ofzk]

visiting lapland it amazed me how abundant birds were there when it was so cold, incredible how such a small unprotected body seemed so comfortable in the freezing cold, incredible creatures

[hatfieldrick]

Once you have the genes for feathers (which as you say are very complex and hard to evolve) it makes a lot more sense to use them for wings than a flap of skin, for one simple reason: a feathered wing can take a lot of damage and only lose feathers, which can regrow -- but a membrane wing is a lot harder to repair, and may easily be permanently ruined.

[Mother_of_Pigeons]

I live with 6 adopted pigeons. I’m happy to confirm that birds are not normal! ❤

[critiqueofthegothgf]

"if birds were to go extinct the skies would be empty for millions of years, if not forever". it's genuinely terrifying to think about. flight is so rare and evolutionarily taxing, it might never emerge again

[LuigiGodzillaGirl]

So happy to see you discuss Yi Chi. I remember the first time I saw one on another Paleo channel years ago, thinking to myself “This has got to be the closest evolution has ever gotten to real dragons as described in fantasy writings!”

[BuruIgeru]

This is the earliest I've been to an Eons video and it just so happened to be the one that talks about a dinosaur that's the closest body type to a fantasy dragon. What wonders this channel continues to show us.