00:00The fact that I'm a bird watcher is rather appropriate when it comes to studying Velociraptor
00:05because, and this might come as a bit of a surprise, Velociraptor had feathers.
00:14Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, for the first time on British television,
00:18the fierce yet feathered, in beautiful plumage, Velociraptor.
00:32In fact, Velociraptor was only two and a half feet tall,
00:37and it looked very much like a bird.
00:43Which perhaps isn't that surprising because scientists now agree that birds were descended from dinosaurs.
00:54It all becomes pretty obvious when you look closely at the fossil bones.
01:00Look at these long front limbs, much like wings, and it's got hollow bones,
01:07only found on dinosaurs and birds.
01:11And, look, a wishbone, again, only on dinosaurs and birds.
01:15And look at those feet, what about those feet?
01:18They're much more like talons, aren't they?
01:20Yeah, like you'd see on a bird of prey, which is, of course, also known as a raptor.
01:28As a bird watcher, I can see quite a few similarities to birds.
01:37But dinosaur experts can spot even more.
01:47Time to visit a scientist.
01:52Mmm, my favourite. Roast turkey.
01:55A leg? You can have a leg.
01:59Look at the arm.
02:01Now, notice I didn't say wing,
02:03because long ago in this guy's evolutionary history,
02:06this was, in fact, his arm.
02:08Yes.
02:08And you can still see the hand here.
02:10What we call the wing on a bird today, this is the hand.
02:12Yeah.
02:12You can still see a finger there.
02:14Absolutely.
02:15The end of his finger just fell off.
02:18So there is a claw.
02:19The claw goes on the end.
02:20Yeah, that goes on there.
02:21It actually has still a joint.
02:23Yeah.
02:23But I've got something else
02:24that I think will absolutely convince you
02:26that this is a dinosaur.
02:28Right.
02:29Let me go and cut it for you.
02:30You'll like this.
02:32You don't have to eat this bit.
02:33It's the bit that isn't on here, then.
02:35What is it, the head?
02:37Forgive me for not cooking these, but...
02:41It's the best bit.
02:42Well, maybe.
02:43Take your foot.
02:46Just look at that.
02:47It's a dinosaur's foot.
02:51If you look at the structure of the bones,
02:54the number of bones, their arrangement,
02:55what they look like,
02:57they are bang on for many types of predatory dinosaur.
03:01Another thing that jumps out at you,
03:03linking birds and predatory dinosaurs,
03:05is when you just look at the form of the scales on the feet,
03:08because they gently change into these downy feathers
03:12before they become the true feathers
03:14that we all know and love in birds.
03:16Yes.
03:16Because feathers are just highly evolved scales.
03:23So, Phil has confirmed what I actually suspected,
03:26that we can learn a lot about dinosaurs
03:29by looking at birds.
03:32But feathery dinosaurs,
03:34I mean, it still doesn't seem right, does it?
03:36I mean, where's the evidence?
03:41It came from China.
03:44In 1986, fossil hunters discovered
03:47an extraordinary fossil
03:49of a small predatory dinosaur.
03:54Every detail of its body
03:56had been left behind as indentations in the rock.
04:01When they looked closely,
04:03they could see a dark line
04:05running from head to tail along its back.
04:09and the incredible truth dawned on them.
04:12This dinosaur was covered in feathers.
04:16In fact, there were only little feathers,
04:18rather like these.
04:19Downy, I suppose, would be the right word.
04:21No good for flying these,
04:23but very good for keeping warm.
04:25But even better,
04:27only four years ago,
04:29and from China again,
04:31the discovery of Dave,
04:33the fuzzy raptor.
04:36And he had feathers,
04:38which were much more impressive,
04:41more like
04:43this one.
04:45And he was covered
04:47in these much more sophisticated feathers
04:49from head to toe.
04:57So, it seems the raptor family
04:59did have feathers,
05:01and that, of course, includes
05:02our star,
05:04Velociraptor.
05:06From just a few fossils,
05:09scientists can be pretty certain
05:11what Velociraptor looked like.
05:14Right then,
05:16let's put the flesh
05:17on the bones.
05:18Okay.
05:19First,
05:20the muscles.
05:23Next,
05:24the skin.
05:27Now,
05:28ah,
05:29what?
05:29Is it going to be scales?
05:31No.
05:32The feathers.
05:34And there we are.
05:35A dead ringer
05:36for an ancient turkey.
05:38Except,
05:39ah,
05:40I wouldn't fancy
05:40trying to stuff it.
05:42I think it would probably
05:43stuff me more like,
05:44it's not a turkey,
05:45is it?
05:45Come on!
05:46This wouldn't go
05:47pecking around at seeds.
05:48I mean,
05:49look at those teeth.
05:50This was obviously
05:51a meat eater.
05:54And how did it
05:56get its meat?
05:58Phil Manning
05:58showed me
05:59that Velociraptor
06:00had all the hallmarks
06:02of a vicious killer.
06:06The skull
06:07is exquisite,
06:08extremely bird-like.
06:10But one of the
06:10most striking features
06:11has to be
06:12these backwardly
06:13recurved,
06:14serrated teeth
06:15that weren't wonderful
06:16for slashing
06:17into their prey.
06:18These would have been
06:19like razor blades
06:20as the animal
06:21buried its face
06:22into its prey,
06:23using its body weight,
06:24hanging back
06:25on these hook-like teeth,
06:26ripping through flesh.
06:31This would have been
06:32a devastating weapon.
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