Glorified Dinosaurs: The Origin and Early Evolution of Birds

Glorified Dinosaurs: The Origin and Early Evolution of Birds
Luis M. Chiappe
Hardcover
192 pages
February 2007
The last few years have witnessed an unparalleled rate of discoveries of early birds and their dinosaurian predecessors. Written by a recognised authority in the field, Glorified Dinosaurs: The Origin and Early Evolution of Birds provides a comprehensive summary of these discoveries and addresses the fascinating topic of how modern birds evolved from fearsome dinosaurs akin to the celebrated Velociraptor. The book focuses on an evolutionary approach and presents current research and fossil discoveries. The title includes coloured photographs of fossils and fossil localities, many of which have been rarely reproduced elsewhere.
Glorified Dinosaurs: The Origin and Early Evolution of Birds is an invaluable resource for every palaeontologist, ornithologist, evolutionary biologist, geology and life sciences student. It is also an exciting reading for people interested in dinosaurs and avian evolution and for all those with a general interests in the topic.

Table of Contents

Preface.
Chapter One. Mesozoinc Birds and Their World.
Chapter Two. The Ancestry of Birds and the Origin of Flight.
Chapter Three: The Bizarre Mononykus and its Kin: An Evolutionary Experiment.
Chapter Four. Archaeopteryz: The Earliest Bird.
Chapter Five. Rahonavis and Other Long-tailed Birds.
Chapter Six. The Firs Short-Tailed Birds.
Chapter Seven. The Great Mesozoic Radiation: The Flying Enantiornithes.
Chapter Eight. Early Predecessors of Modern Birds.
Chapter Nine. Hesperornis and its relatives: Divers of the Cretaceous Seas.
Chapter Ten. The Beginnings of Modern Birds.
Epilogue.
Acknowledgements.
Glossary.
Index.