Mystery of the Giant Birds/D矛omhaireachd nan Eun Mhora
Giant birds once existed all around the world, but none of these birds were able to fly. So how did they arrive in these distant lands?
Bhithear an d霉il E貌in ailbhein 脿 Madagascar agus moathan 脿 Sealainn Nuadh a lorg ann an leabhar fantasachd ach bho chionn 70 millean bliadhna bha na e貌in seo be貌 san t-saoghal. Bha cuideam 800cg ann an cuid aca, is feadhainn eile cha mh貌r ceithir meatairean a dh鈥櫭爄rde. An aon rud a bha cumanta: cha b鈥� urrainn dhaibh sg猫ith. Ciamar a nochd na e貌in m貌ra gun iteig seo ann an t矛rean iomallach?
Air sg脿th fosailean air an 霉r-lorg agus leasachaidhean ann a bhith a鈥� togail DNA 脿rsaidh, tha luchd-saidheans air crathadh a thoirt air beachdan a bha gu seo st猫idhichte gluasadan m貌r-th矛reil gus m矛neachadh carson a bha na e貌in gun iteig seo be貌 ann an leth dheas an t-saoghail. Ach tha rannsachadh ginteil a-nis ag ath-chruthachadh eachdraidh 猫abhlaideach, iongantach nam beathaichean d矛omhair seo.
Elephant birds of Madagascar and moas of New Zealand sound like creatures from a fantasy book, but some 70 million years ago these birds roamed the Earth. Some weighed up to 800 kilos, others stood nearly 4m high. But they all had something in common: they were unable to fly. So how did these ground-dwelling, supersized birds arrive in these distant islands?
Thanks to recent fossil discoveries and improvements in extracting ancient DNA, scientists have thrown a spanner in the works of existing theories which, until now, used the continental drift to explain the existence of these flightless birds in the southern hemisphere. But genetic studies are now reconstructing the unexpected evolutionary history of these enigmatic animals.
Dubbed in Gaelic with English subtitles
On TV
