Flying Monsters with David Attenborough (2011)

220 million years ago, as dinosaurs were beginning their domination of Earth, another group of reptiles was about to make an extraordinary leap. Pterosaurs were taking control of the skies. The story of how and why these mysterious creatures took to the air is more fantastical than any fiction.

In Flying Monsters, Sir David Attenborough sets out to uncover the truth about the enigmatic pterosaurs whose wingspans of up to 40 feet were equal to that of a modern day jet plane. The central question and of the greatest mysteries in paleontology is how and why did pterosaurs fly. How did creatures the size of giraffes defy gravity and soar through prehistoric skies?

Attenborough starts to unravel one of science’s more enduring mysteries, discovering that the marvel of pterosaur flight has evolutionary echoes that resonate even today.

#pterosaurs #flight #quetzalcoatlus #paleontology #fossils #documentary #science

[DinoDocumentaries]

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[TheJohnnyD]

I think we take for granted often, the imagination and the hard work of others to teach us about the past. Love this and thank you for uploading. ❤

[pinkcupcake]

The CGI added so much charm to this documentary. The animators filled these creatures with so much personality.

[marmarsmandalas]

David Attenborough is a lullaby for me. The very BEST teacher ❤

[longcastle]

Exceptional documentary. The CGI was exceptional too.

[adamadams]

Love this one, Attenborough is awesome as always.

[ronnelechavez]

19:00 Amazing to find a well-preserved fossil of a creature more ancient to T Rex than T Rex to us.

[AzraelsEntertainment]

41:08 - "Boy, I Say Boy!!!'

[tyrannotherium]

I saw this documentary film in theaters at the museum in Philly that they had at the time

[sarahhassard]

I love this guy he has an amazing voice so calm and can a super story

[Hellbender]

I love David Attenborough. Quetzalcoatlus is my favorite mesozoic archosaur. Soar high

[slavenaljinovic]

Great documentary.

I hope you can upload series such as Explorers from 1978 or the Discoverers

[wagecuckwojak]

what i would give to get to see these majestic creatures walking on the earth once more.

[SandyRiverBlue]

1:00:12. It's so striking how similar the body plan of this pterosaur is to some mosasaurs. The limbs are a bit longer in proportion to its body, but subtracting the membrane it's interesting how similar a body meant to float through the air is to one meant to float through water.
I am aware that they share a common ancestor but that common ancestor is also common to non-avian dinosaurs and more recently to birds which don't seem to have kept this shape. Maybe it's down to how proximal their evolution is to that common ancestor or to evolutionary pressures. Either way, just an impression that I find very striking.

[youtalk]

We hoping one day to see 200 million years old flying human beings

[ianmalcolmislasornaandsand]

David Attenborough visits in the Alps of southern Germany

I am a creationist but this was well done, presented, good graphics and info. They might be airbourne lizards but maybe just flightless birds that then took again to the air in the unique long finger way. very unlikely they roared as in this show. Sha;llow waters would not fossilize them but only great heaps of sediment in a rush by the way. they were light and thats important. Still they are not seen but only deduced from limited data results. anyways a cool show.

[AlienTyrannosaurusRex_]

Can you make, ,Dino Turkey'' documentary?

[Saiyan_Raised_On_Earth]

Rip sir davids attenbrough brother😢 he is a big legend

[shashidharmurthy]

I do pray let scientists recreate this recent by extinct 30' wide wing Span giants. Alas humans may tame this birds & use as Aircrafts ho hum😅