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Full Description
Dinosaurs of the Air: The Evolution and Loss of Flight in Dinosaurs and Birds presents the most recent work of renowned evolutionary scientist and dinosaur illustrator Gregory Paul. Dinosaurs of the Air synthesizes the growing body of evidence which suggests that modern-day birds have evolved from theropod dinosaurs of prehistoric times. Paul argues provocatively for the idea that the ancestor-descendant relationship between the dinosaurs and birds can on occasion be reversed, and that many dinosaurs were secondarily flightless descendants of creatures we would regard as birds. Controversial and comprehensive, Dinosaurs of the Air also offers new, firsthand interpretations of major fossils; a balanced, rewarding discussion of the ways we think flight may have evolved (comparing "ground up" and "trees down" scenarios); a close look at the famous urvogel Archaeopteryx, discussing what it can and cannot tell us about bird origins; and in-depth analyses of bird and theropod phylogenetics.
Full of rich detail for the specialist but accessible to the intelligent lay reader, the book includes the author's own stunning illustrations and a technical appendix which provides information, for example, on body mass/wing dimension relationships and avian/dinosaurian metabolics.
Contents
Contents: Preface PART I : Getting Started Chapter 1: A History Chapter 2: The Science of Bird Origins PART II: Skeletons, Bones and Other Remains of the Mesozoic Chapter 3: Skulls Chapter 4: Skeletons Chapter 5: Feathers and Other Fluff PART III: Flight: How and Why it Evolves, Why it is Lost, and How to Tell When Chapter 6: The Beginnings of Flight: From the Ground Up, or the Trees Down? Chapter 7: The Early Evolution of Flight Chapter 8: The Loss of Flight PART IV: The Archaeopteryx problem Chapter 9: Lifestyle for the Urvogel PART V: Who Is Related to Whom, and Why? Chapter 10: Looking for the True Bird Ancestor Chapter 11: Were Some Dinosaurs Neoflightless Birds? Chapter 12: A Look at the Phylogenetics of Predatory Dinosaurs PART VI: A Modest Scenario Chapter 13: The Mesozoic Chapter 14: The Great Extinction Chapter 15: The Cenozoic Appendix Bibliography Index