For episode 3, Nigel decides to pay a visit to the China of 130 million years ago. It was here that experts made a recent and extraordinary discovery: a tiny fossilized dinosaur with feathers! They named it the Microraptor gui, giving the scientific community even stronger evidence so far that birds are the direct descendants of dinosaurs.
The team arrive, choking in the atmosphere of volcanic gas. Wary of its poisonous effect and the threat of sudden volcanic explosions, the team move to higher ground - and beneath the canopy of a subtropical forest, the Microraptor hunt begins.
On the edge of a lake, Nigel finds a majestic group of pterosaurs, swooping and feeding. These flying reptiles have dominated the skies for 100 million years - but will be superseded by birds.
The first strange creature the team come across is an Incisivosaurus gautheri: a buck-toothed flightless, feathered herbivore browsing the forest floor. But more worrying is the hassling of one team member for his food-filled backpack by a pack of carnivorous Mei long.
At last, Nigel spots the amazing Microraptor gui and a herd of Titanosaurs, from the Sauropod group of giant dinosaurs. They're some of the biggest herbivore dinosaurs that ever lived, and are harmless - unless they tread on you!
Fluff and feathers developed as a means of warmth and recognition for the small dinosaurs. Gliding and powered flight followed, taking their evolution skyward.
Nigel and team, ready with their bird net, try to get the smallest known dinosaur back to Prehistoric Park. And, while escaping a cloud of lethal volcanic ash, a few of the largest too!
In Time...
The early Cretaceous Period of China, 125 million years ago, was host to all manner of bizarre bird-like dinosaurs and is one of the most mysterious times in prehistory. These weird and wonderful dinosaurs inhabited a subtropical world of dense forests, shadowed by giant active volcanoes.
Making The Episode
Nigel and the team travelled 11,500 miles to Rotarua, New Zealand, to film this episode. The dimly lit forest floors of The Redwood, Ohakuri and Tikitere forests gave the Chinese dino-birds plenty of places to hide, although they were no match for Nigel's net gun; the poor animatronic Microraptor never stood a chance!
Download
In the Fun Stuff section, you can get printable factsheets on each of the creatures featured in this episode:
Find out more, by getting printable factsheets on each of the creatures featured in this episode.
