Did Any Dinosaurs Really Fly?

🕐 4 min 26 sec 👦 Ages 6–8 🌍 English
Koko discovers the truth about flying dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and the surprising fact that birds are living dinosaurs!
Pterosaurs were not dinosaurs Some dinosaurs had feathers and could glide Birds are living descendants of dinosaurs Difference between avian and non-avian dinosaurs
📖 Story Script
                    Koko:
                    Owlo, Owlo! I have the most important question and it cannot wait!
                
                    Owlo:
                    Well, come in then, Koko. You look like you ran all the way here. What happened?
                
                    Koko:
                    I was reading my dinosaur book last night, and I saw a picture of a giant flying reptile. It had huge wings and a long beak!
                
                    Owlo:
                    Ah, that sounds like a very exciting discovery. What did the book call it?
                
                    Koko:
                    It said Pterodactyl. But then it said something really confusing. It said that was NOT a dinosaur!
                
                    Owlo:
                    You caught something that even some grown-ups get confused about, Koko. That is a wonderful observation.
                
                    Koko:
                    But it lived with the dinosaurs, and it was huge and scary looking. So, did any dinosaurs actually fly?
                
                    Owlo:
                    That is one of my favourite questions in all of natural history. Let us go to the library and dig into this together.
                
                    Koko:
                    Okay, I found the big dinosaur encyclopaedia. It smells like old paper and adventure.
                
                    Owlo:
                    Perfect. Now, let us start with the truth about Pterodactyls. They were flying reptiles, called Pterosaurs. They lived at the same time as dinosaurs, but belonged to a different animal family.
                
                    Koko:
                    So they were like neighbours, but not cousins?
                
                    Owlo:
                    That is a brilliant way to put it. Exactly right. They shared the same world but were not the same kind of creature.
                
                    Koko:
                    So then, did anything that was actually a real dinosaur ever fly?
                
                    Owlo:
                    Open to page forty-two in that book. I think you are about to be very surprised.
                
                    Koko:
                    Okay... it says... Microraptor! It has four wings! That looks so strange and also kind of amazing.
                
                    Owlo:
                    Microraptor was a real dinosaur, and scientists believe it could glide between trees using all four of its feathered limbs. It was about the size of a crow.
                
                    Koko:
                    Wait, feathers? Dinosaurs had feathers?
                
                    Owlo:
                    Many small meat-eating dinosaurs had feathers, yes. This is one of the most exciting things scientists have discovered in the last few decades.
                
                    Koko:
                    That is blowing my mind a little bit, Owlo.
                
                    Owlo:
                    It blew many scientists' minds too. And here is the biggest surprise of all. Birds are actually living dinosaurs. They evolved from small feathered dinosaurs millions of years ago.
                
                    Koko:
                    Wait. Birds are dinosaurs? Like, the little birds outside right now, chirping in the garden?
                
                    Owlo:
                    Every single one of them. When you watch a bird fly, you are watching a dinosaur fly.
                
                    Koko:
                    That is the coolest thing I have ever heard in my whole entire life.
                
                    Owlo:
                    Scientists call birds avian dinosaurs. Avian means relating to birds. The dinosaurs we picture, like T-Rex and Triceratops, are called non-avian dinosaurs, and those ones did go extinct.
                
                    Koko:
                    So dinosaurs did not all disappear. Some of them just grew wings and started singing in trees!
                
                    Owlo:
                    In a manner of speaking, that is exactly what happened. It took millions of years, but yes.
                
                    Koko:
                    I need to go look at birds completely differently from now on. Every sparrow is secretly a tiny dinosaur.
                
                    Owlo:
                    That is the kind of thinking that makes a great scientist, Koko. Now, before you rush off to stare at every bird you see, can you tell me what you learned today?
                
                    Koko:
                    Okay! So, Pterodactyls were NOT dinosaurs. They were flying reptiles that just happened to live at the same time, like neighbours who are not related.
                
                    Owlo:
                    Very good. Keep going.
                
                    Koko:
                    Some real dinosaurs, like Microraptor, had feathers and could glide. And the biggest thing, birds are actually real living dinosaurs! So dinosaurs never fully went extinct. They are literally everywhere, singing on branches and stealing crumbs from picnics.
                
                    Owlo:
                    That last part is very accurate. Birds do love a picnic.
                
                    Koko:
                    Next time I want to learn about how dinosaurs actually turned into birds. Like, what did the in-between ones look like?
                
                    Owlo:
                    There is a famous fossil called Archaeopteryx that answers exactly that question. It will be waiting for us next time.
                
                    Koko:
                    I already cannot wait. Goodbye, Owlo!
                
                    Owlo:
                    Goodbye, Koko. And maybe say hello to any dinosaurs you pass on your way home.