Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Birds today have dinosaur DNA. They have dinosaur blood in their veins. Birds evolved directly from Velociraptor-type animals and are the only true dinosaurs that still exist. Steve Brusatte is a palaeontologist at the University of Edinburgh, UK, and has been studying 150 million years' worth of bird evolution, from surviving the asteroid that wiped out their contemporaries to today’s adaptation into almost every niche. Brusatte introduces elephant birds, terror birds, demon ducks and penguins the size of gorillas, and why "when gulls dive bomb you and try to steal your pasty or your chips”, says Brusatte, "you really can sense in the nastiness, the cunning, the agility, the feistiness. You can sense that inner Velociraptor.”
Learn more ➤ youtube.com/live/YKIXt_GWbks
00:00 Introduction
00:41 Birds are Dinosaurs
05:15 The evidence for bird evolution
09:10 Velociraptor to modern bird
14:28 Archaeopteryx the first bird
17:50 Discovering fossilised birds
22:21 Why did birds survive?
28:21 Giant penguins and other early birds
36:16 Terror birds
39:52 Demon ducks
41:43 Pelagornis
45:34 Modern birds
49:27 Bird brains
53:25 Future bird evolution
56:07 What is your favourite bird?
Love New Scientist? For a specially discounted New Scientist digital subscription, go to newscientist.com/youtube
Get more from New Scientist:
Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHP
Facebook: bit.ly/NSYTFB
Twitter: bit.ly/NSYTTW
Instagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTA
LinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN
About New Scientist:
New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human.
New Scientist
newscientist.com
#paleontology #dinosaurs #birds #science #history #documentary
Birds today have dinosaur DNA. They have dinosaur blood in their veins. Birds evolved directly from Velociraptor-type animals and are the only true dinosaurs that still exist. Steve Brusatte is a palaeontologist at the University of Edinburgh, UK, and has been studying 150 million years' worth of bird evolution, from surviving the asteroid that wiped out their contemporaries to today’s adaptation into almost every niche. Brusatte introduces elephant birds, terror birds, demon ducks and penguins the size of gorillas, and why "when gulls dive bomb you and try to steal your pasty or your chips”, says Brusatte, "you really can sense in the nastiness, the cunning, the agility, the feistiness. You can sense that inner Velociraptor.”
Learn more ➤ youtube.com/live/YKIXt_GWbks
00:00 Introduction
00:41 Birds are Dinosaurs
05:15 The evidence for bird evolution
09:10 Velociraptor to modern bird
14:28 Archaeopteryx the first bird
17:50 Discovering fossilised birds
22:21 Why did birds survive?
28:21 Giant penguins and other early birds
36:16 Terror birds
39:52 Demon ducks
41:43 Pelagornis
45:34 Modern birds
49:27 Bird brains
53:25 Future bird evolution
56:07 What is your favourite bird?
Love New Scientist? For a specially discounted New Scientist digital subscription, go to newscientist.com/youtube
Get more from New Scientist:
Official website: bit.ly/NSYTHP
Facebook: bit.ly/NSYTFB
Twitter: bit.ly/NSYTTW
Instagram: bit.ly/NSYTINSTA
LinkedIn: bit.ly/NSYTLIN
About New Scientist:
New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human.
New Scientist
newscientist.com
#paleontology #dinosaurs #birds #science #history #documentary
