Flying Dinosaurs: How Fearsome Reptiles Became Birds

Flying Dinosaurs: How Fearsome Reptiles Became Birds
ISBN-10
0231538782
ISBN-13
9780231538787
Series
Flying Dinosaurs
Category
Nature
Pages
240
Language
English
Published
2014-09-16
Publisher
Columbia University Press
Author
John Pickrell

Description

“It will be difficult for any reader to think about dinosaurs—or birds—in the same ways they had before.”—Publishers Weekly The discovery of stunning, feathered dinosaur fossils coming out of China in the twentieth century suggests that these creatures were much more bird-like than paleontologists previously imagined. Further evidence—bones, genetics, eggs, behavior, and more—has shown a seamless transition from fleet-footed carnivores to the ancestors of modern birds. Mixing colorful portraits with news on the latest fossil findings and interviews with leading paleontologists in the United States, China, Europe, and Australia, John Pickrell explains and details dinosaurs’ development of flight. This special capacity introduced a whole new range of abilities for the animals and helped them survive a mass extinction, when thousands of other dinosaur species that once populated Earth did not. Pickrell also turns his journalistic eye toward the stories behind the latest discoveries, investigating the role of the Chinese black market in trading fossils, the controversies among various dinosaur hunters, the interference of national governments intent on protecting scientific information, and the race to publish findings first that make this research such a dynamic area of science. “Fascinating.”

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