Как полетели динозавры: ящеры-квадрокоптеры, обратные птицы и их потомки

Dinozavry, ikh predtechi i blizhaĭshie rodstvenniki, vkli͡uchai͡a pterozavrov, - odni iz samykh neobychnykh zhivotnykh vo vseĭ istorii Zemli. Ni do nikh, ni posle nikh stolʹ ogromnye sushchestva ne stupali po sushe i ne podnimalisʹ v vozdukh. I vse zhe poi͡avlenie ėtikh pozvonochnykh stalo zakonomernym itogom ėvoli͡ut͡sii zhizni, a otni͡udʹ ne kakikh-to neobychnykh usloviĭ vrode anomalʹnogo sostava vozdukha ili "razbukhanii͡a" planety do "dinozavrovykh" razmerov. Vozmozhno, rast͡svet dinozavrov byl predopredelen ikh postoi͡annym "stremleniem" k poletu. Vedʹ dazhe dlinnosheie i dlinnokhvostye zavropody priobreli nekotorye ptichʹi cherty. A mnogie khishchnye i͡ashchery pokrylisʹ perʹi͡ami, "potepleli" i tozhe smogli podni͡atʹsi͡a v nebo. Na primere 18 ochenʹ raznykh mezozoĭskikh i͡ashcherov i kaĭnozoĭskikh ptit͡s poprobuem razobratʹsi͡a, kak dinozavry voznikli i stali ptit͡sami.

Dinosaurs, their forerunners and closest relatives, including pterosaurs, are some of the most unusual animals in the entire history of the Earth. Neither before nor after them have such huge creatures set foot on land or taken to the air. Nevertheless, the appearance of these vertebrates was a natural result of the evolution of life, and not some unusual conditions such as abnormal air composition or the "swelling" of the planet to "dinosaur" size. Perhaps the heyday of dinosaurs was predetermined by their constant "striving" for flight. After all, even long-necked and long-tailed sauropods have acquired some bird-like features. And many predatory lizards became covered with feathers, "warmed up" and were also able to rise into the sky. Using the example of 18 very different Mesozoic lizards and Cenozoic birds, let's try to figure out how dinosaurs arose and became birds.