Kings of Wings

Kings of Wings is a 2017 american-british documentary miniseries airing on the National Geographic and National Geographic Wild Channel narrated by Adam Driver. It primarily centers around the largest flying animals in Earth's history: the mesozoic azdarchid pterosaurs, the cenozoic pelagornids and teratorns, and the griffinflies. Effects are provided by Frameworks and Puppet Heap, while John Powell composed the score.

The series recieved positive reviews from both critics and the paleontological community for its educational content, cinematography, and humour of Adam Driver's narration.

Episode One: Six-legged Pioneers
Episode one focuses on the largest insects in history native to the Palaeozoic era. Beginning in the early Devonian period, insects became the first animals ever to achieve flight, and in the swamps of the Carboniferous and Permian evolved the meganisopterans, the largest insects ever. Even after the notorious P-T Extinction, one group known as the titanopterans gained a stronghold as high-level carnivores in their respective ecosystems.
 * Airdate - October 3, 2017
 * Director -
 * Writers -
 * Locations -

Episode Two: Sky Gods
Episode two focuses on the azdarchid pterosaurs of the Late Cretaceous, the largest creatures that could fly ever. Across the Earth, they occupied a niche of terrestrial carnivores. The largest of them all were Arambourgiania of Africa, Hatzegopteryx of Europe, and Quetzalcoatlus of North America. A male is tracked
 * Airdate - October 10, 2017
 * Director - Gareth Edwards
 * Writers
 * Locations - Hateg Island, 70,000,000 BCE

Episode Three: Feathers Among Fur
Episode three focuses on the largest flying birds, Pelagornis sandersi, the teratorns, and the Haast's Eagle of the Neogene period. In oligocene North America. At the end of the episode, the narrator muses over what sort of animal could become the next large flying animal as a pigeon flies off.
 * Airdate - October 17, 2017
 * Director -
 * Writers -
 * Locations -
 * Peru,
 * California, 11,000 BCE
 * South Island, New Zealand, 1384 CE
 * South Island, New Zealand, 1384 CE

Pterosaurs

 * Preondactylus
 * Eudimorphodon
 * Quetzalcoatlus
 * Quetzalcoatlus northropi
 * Quetzalcoatlus sp. (nicknamed Quetzalcoatus grummanii)
 * Geosternbergia
 * Arambourgiania
 * Hatzegopteryx
 * Eurazhdarcho

Dinosaurs

 * Unindentified Abelisaurid
 * Alamosaurus 
 * Thelescosaurus
 * Gorgosaurus 
 * Dakotaraptor
 * Magyarosaurus
 * Rhabdodon

Birds

 * Telmatornis
 * Halimornis
 * Hesperornis
 * Pelagornis sandersi
 * Argentavis
 * Andalgalornis
 * Teratornis
 * Californian turkey
 * Haast's Eagle
 * South Island Giant Moa

Reptiles

 * Sharovipteryx 
 * Platecarpus

Mammals

 * Eomysticetus
 * Cetotherium
 * Desmodus draculae
 * Toxodon
 * Thylacosmilus 
 * Glyptodon 
 * Columbian Mammoth
 * Bison latifrons
 * Harlan's ground sloth
 * Human

Arthropods

 * Rhyniognatha
 * Palaeocharinus 
 * Meganeura
 * Megatypus
 * Meganeuropsis permiana
 * Arthropleura
 * Titanopteran
 * Prototitan sharovi

Fish

 * Rhombodus
 * Squalicorax

Production
Gareth Edwards executive produced the series, as well as act as a scriptwriter for episode two.

There was going to be an episode dedicated to prehistoric bats.

Originally, the final sequence focused to the Haast's eagle and how it went.

Filming took place in California, Madgascar, and. For the griffinfly and titanopteran sequences, an indoor set at was made, using drones to represent animals. Visual effects were made by Frameworks, utilising both CGI and animatronics, the largest of which was a four-metre high hatzegopteryx nicknamed "Drake".

Score
British composer John Powell composed the score.

Tie-In Media
A companion book written by Mark Witton was released on