How Dinosaurs Took Flight: Quadcopters, Reverse Birds, and Their Descendants

Dinosaurs, their ancestors, and close relatives, including pterosaurs, are among the most unusual animals in the entire history of Earth. Neither before nor after them did such enormous creatures walk on land or take to the air. And yet, the emergence of these vertebrates was a logical outcome of the evolution of life, rather than some unusual conditions like an abnormal composition of the air or the "swelling" of the planet to "dinosaur" sizes. Perhaps the flourishing of dinosaurs was predetermined by their constant "desire" to fly. After all, even the long-necked and long-tailed sauropods acquired some bird-like traits. Many predatory lizards developed feathers, "warmed up," and were also able to rise into the sky. Using the example of 18 very different Mesozoic lizards and Cenozoic birds, we will try to understand how dinosaurs originated and became birds.