Flying Dinosaurs
eBook - ePub
Available until 27 Jan |Learn more

Flying Dinosaurs

How Fearsome Reptiles Became Birds

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
Available until 27 Jan |Learn more

Flying Dinosaurs

How Fearsome Reptiles Became Birds

About this book

The discovery of stunning, feathered dinosaur fossils coming out of China since 2006 suggest 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 the 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.

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Yes, you can access Flying Dinosaurs by John Pickrell in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Physical Sciences & Natural History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. CoverĀ 
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. ContentsĀ 
  6. Foreword
  7. Preface
  8. Introduction: A whole new world
  9. Before we begin
  10. 1. The missing link
  11. 2. A feathered revolution begins
  12. 3. The dinosaur hunters
  13. 4. From dinosaur to bird
  14. 5. Fake fossils
  15. 6. The evolution of feathers
  16. 7. The struggle to the skies
  17. 8. Sex for T. rex
  18. 9. Colouring in the dinosaurs
  19. 10. Back from the dead
  20. 11. The survival game
  21. Relationships of the theropod dinosaurs
  22. An A–Z of feathered dinosaurs
  23. References
  24. Glossary
  25. Select bibliography
  26. Acknowledgments
  27. Index
  28. Color Plates