Dinosaurs: A Concise Natural History
Cambridge University Press
Edition: 4, 7/1/2021
EAN 9781108469296, ISBN10: 1108469299
Paperback, 534 pages, 27.5 x 21.9 x 2.6 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
The ideal textbook for non-science majors, this lively and engaging introduction encourages students to ask questions, assess data critically and think like a scientist. Building on the success of previous editions, Dinosaurs has been thoroughly updated to include new discoveries in the field, such as the toothed bird specimens found in China and recent discoveries of dinosaur soft anatomy. Illustrations by leading paleontological illustrator John Sibbick and new, carefully-chosen photographs, clearly show how dinosaurs looked, lived and their role in Earth history. Making science accessible and relevant through clear explanations and extensive illustrations, the text guides students through the dinosaur groups, emphasizing scientific concepts rather than presenting endless facts. Grounded in the common language of modern evolutionary biology – phylogenetic systematics – students learn to think about dinosaurs the way that professional paleontologists do.
Part I. Remembrance of Things Past
1. To Catch a Dinosaur
2. Dinosaur Days
3. Who's Related to Whom – and How Do We Know?
4. Who Are the Dinosaurs?
5. In The Beginning
Part II. Saurischia
Meat, Might, Muscle, and Magnitude
6. Theropoda I
Nature Red In Tooth and Claw
7. Theropoda II
Meet the Theropods
8. Theropoda III
The Origin and Early Evolution of Birds
9. Sauropodomorpha
The Big, the Bizarre, and the Majestic
Part III. Ornithischia
Armored, Horned, and Duck-Billed Dinosaurs
10. Thyreophora
the Armor-bearers
11. Marginocephalia
Bumps, Bosses, and Beaks
12. Ornithopoda
Mighty Mesozoic Masticators
Part IV. Endothermy, Endemism, and Extinction
13. The Paleobiology of Dinosaurs I
14. The Paleobiology of Dinosaurs II
15. The Flowering of the Mesozoic
16. A History of Dinosaur Paleontology Through the Ideas of Dinosaur Paleontologists
17. The Cretaceous–Paleogene Extinction
The Frill is Gone
Glossary
Index of Subjects
Index of Genera.