00:04Despite 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
00:22years 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 were more
00:53likely 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
01:00the 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
01:06found the missing link.
01:08Youth desk.
01:09So I developers like to see them struggling here.
01:11Nice to see both sides of time.
01:12But at this point, lower risk for all that silicone group.
01:12This theory won't help us because it needs a decent form of information.
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