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Full Description
Our knowledge of the origin and early evolution of birds has exploded in the past ten to fifteen years. In the 1990s alone, scientists became aware of approximately three times more species of early birds than were previously known, marking the first 85 million years of avian development as a period of remarkable species diversity. Assembling work by an international group of renowned scientists, Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs is the most authoritative and up-to-date source on early avian evolution currently available. This unique resource provides a comprehensive examination of the known fossil record and is also an unparalleled guide to the fast-paced developments in current research. Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs covers a wide range of topics, including discussions of avian origins, the fossil record of feathers and footprints, bone histology, and locomotor evolution. Controversial taxa such as Protoavis, Caudipteryx, and Mononykus receive special treatment. But the heart of the volume presents the anatomy, relationships, and paleobiology of the undisputed Mesozoic aviary.
Some of the book's most exciting features are the new definitive descriptions and illustrations of taxa that previously have received only brief notice, such as the alvarezsaurid Shuvuuia; the enantiornithines Sinornis; Eoalulavis, Vorona, and Patagopteryx; and the hesperornithiform Enaliornis. The origin of birds and their relationship to dinosaurs continue to be hotly debated among paleontologists, ornithologists, and evolutionary biologists. This cutting-edge reference will become an essential resource for those interested in this debate and in the many other fascinating topics relating to the evolution of the earliest known birds.
Contents
Preface Part I: The Archosaurian Heritage of Birds 1. The Debate on Avian Ancestry: Phylogeny, Function, and Fossils LAWRENCE M. WITMER 2. Cladistic Approaches to the Relationships of Birds to Other Theropod Dinosaurs JAMES M. CLARK, MARK A. NORELL, AND PETER J. MAKOVICKY Part II: Taxa of Controversial Status 3. The Enigmatic Birdlike Dinosaur Avimimus portentosus: Comments and a Pictorial Atlas PATRICIA VICKERS-RICH, LUIS M. CHIAPPE, AND SERGEI KURZANOV 4. The Cretaceous, Short-Armed Alvarezsauridae: Mononykus and Its Kin LUIS M. CHIAPPE, MARK A. NORELL, AND JAMES M. CLARK 5. Alvarezsaurid Relationships Reconsidered FERNANDO E. NOVAS AND DIEGO POL Part III: The Mesozoic Aviary: Anatomy and Systematics 6. Archaeopterygidae (Upper Jurassic of Germany) ANDRZEJ ELZANOWSKI 7. The Discovery and Study of Mesozoic Birds in China ZHOU ZHONGHE AND HOU LIANHAI 8. Sinornis santensis (Aves: Enantiornithes) from the Early Cretaceous of Northeastern China PAUL C. SERENO, RAO CHENGGANG, AND LI JIANJUN 9. The Birds from the Lower Cretaceous of Las Hoyas (Province of Cuenca, Spain) JOSE L. SANZ, BERNARDINO P. PEREZ-MORENO, LUIS M. CHIAPPE, AND ANGELA D. BUSCALIONI 10. Noguerornis gonzalezi (Aves) from the Early Cretaceous of Spain LUIS M. CHIAPPE AND ANTONIO LACASA-RUIZ 11. Skeletal Morphology and Systematics of the Cretaceous Euenantiornithes (Ornithothoraces: Enantiornithes) LUIS M. CHIAPPE AND CYRIL A. WALKER 12. Vorona berivotrensis, a Primitive Bird from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar CATHERINE A. FORSTER, LUIS M. CHIAPPE, DAVID W. KRAUSE, AND SCOTT D. SAMPSON 13. Osteology of the Flightless Patagopteryx deferrariisi from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia (Argentina) LUIS M. CHIAPPE 14. Enaliornis, an Early Cretaceous Hesperornithiform Bird from England, with Comments on other Hesperornithiformes PETER M. GALTON AND LARRY D. MARTIN 15. The Mesozoic Radiation of Neornithes SYLVIA HOPE 16. A Review of Avian Mesozoic Fossil Feathers ALEXANDER W. A. KELLNER 17. The Track Record of Mesozoic Birds and Pterosaurs: An Ichnological and Paleoecological Perspective MARTIN G. LOCKLEY AND EMMA C. RAINFORTH Part IV: Functional Morphology and Evolution 18. Bone Microstructure of Early Birds ANUSUYA CHINSAMY 19. Locomotor Evolution on the Line to Modern Birds STEPHEN M. GATESY 20. Basal Bird Phylogeny: Problems and Solutions LUIS M. CHIAPPE Contributors Index
