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Ever since fossils turned up in the 19th century indicating that birds could have evolved from dinosaurs, there has been scientific debate about where modern birds fit into the evolutionary puzzle. This documentary, an installment of PBS's
Nova series, provides an insightful and entertaining look at how ideas about birds and dinosaurs have developed, changed, and are still the subject of debate in the modern era. Great thinkers of the past, including Darwin and Huxley, all figure in the story, and the finding of fossils within the past few decades has advanced matters. In the 1960s a dinosaur with what its finder described as a "wicked claw like a can opener" on its hind leg seemed to be a beast that could leap and slash. Further fossil finds indicated that some dinosaurs developed feathers, and even if they couldn't yet fly, they could perhaps climb trees and launch themselves into a gliding dive. As more fossils are found, those who believe that birds are descended from dinosaurs and skeptics who think they just happen to be animals that resemble each other in some critical ways line up on either side of the debate. This is a balanced view of the controversy, with proponents on either side eloquently making their case. For the viewer, it's an intelligent and enlightening look at how science tries to reconcile theories with what the ancient bones can tell us.
--Robert J. McNamara
Product Description
Explore the link between dinosaurs and birds, and tune in to the fierce debate, about whether dinosaurs are truly extinct, that continues to captivate no matter how you choose to draw the family tree.
