It was possibly due to a move by some small theropods into trees in search of either food or protection. The gradual evolutionary change - from fast-running, ground-dwelling bipedal theropods to small, winged flying birds - probably started about 160 million years ago.
Scientists now know that dinosaurs evolved bird-like characteristics long before the appearance of Archaeopteryx - the Late Jurassic fossil usually thought to be the earliest bird. Our knowledge of these creatures is constantly changing as new fossils are unearthed. 'Our image of dinosaurs has moved a long way from the 1950s picture of lethargic scaly lizards, to one that is much more dynamic and exciting.' Theropodsĭeinonychus was a theropod, one of a group of bipedal, carnivorous dinosaurs that also included Tyrannosaurus rex. Paul says, 'Modern reconstructions of predatory dinosaurs are startlingly bird-like and would have been completely absurd to many nineteenth-century researchers. The Museum's Deinonychus animatronics in the Dinosaurs gallery are sporting feathers, to give visitors an accurate idea of how these animals may have once looked. Perhaps most surprising of all was the discovery of dinosaurs with feathers, completely changing the scientific community's perception of their appearance and behaviour. Many features and behaviours that characterise living birds were also found in their dinosaur ancestors. New work on old specimens, and the discoveries of dinosaur and early bird species in the field, supported the idea that dinosaurs were the direct ancestors of birds. It not only showed unique similarities to birds, but also appeared to be an intelligent, fast-moving pack hunter, rather than a slow, plodding reptile. It began in the 1960s with the revolutionary discovery of Deinonychus, a small predatory dinosaur that lived about 115 million years ago. We are in a period that palaeontologists call the 'dinosaur renaissance'. 'Our image of dinosaurs is now quite different from that put forward by the first palaeontologists working on these animals.' The dinosaur renaissance Paul says, 'Dinosaurs have always sparked the imagination, but our views on these spectacular animals have changed continually through time.
Once dinosaurs were thought of as scaled-up lizards, but now they are regarded very differently. Birds that fill the world's skies today are living dinosaurs, reminders of a distant and strange past.ĭecades of major new discoveries and studies have convinced researchers that there is a direct link between modern bird species and theropod dinosaurs.
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