The Evolution and Extinction of the Dinosaurs

A basic introduction for academic class work. The authors provide a basis for reading journal articles in greater depth.

EXCELLENT college textbook on this topic. This is a previous edition, so newer editions probably have much more up-to-date information that probably supersedes what was known/understood at the time this edition was published. My recollection is that I paid about $15 for this book used, and if I wanted to purchase the latest edition it is probably more than $100. However, my guess is that most of the background information is still 100% in alignment with the best, current thinking/research on this rapidly moving topic

Bought for my son as required reading before a dig. He said it was okay but a little outdated.

Comprehensive in the extreme - tough read. But if you really want to get the last word on this subject, then this IS your read.

It is an up to date and wonderful reference for avid paleontology fans.

Great book for the class that I am taking. Wonderful price.

IN VERY GOOD SHAPE. CHEAP PRICE. GREAT KIDS PRESENTS

I've read several dinosaur books and I've generally found them to be very good. This one, along with "The Complete Dinosaur", ranks as one of my favorites. The reason I was interested in this book was that I was looking for something that focused on the evolution of dinosaurs and how the various taxa of dinosaurs related to each other. I was also looking for something at an intermediate level. This book exceeded my expectations on all fronts. The first two chapters mainly covered background material such as geological time scales, isotopic dating and fossilization. The next two introduced some concepts of evolution (not including natural selection, an understanding of this is presumed) and a very high level view of chordates. The discussion of clade diagrams was very through. After a chapter on the origin of dinosaurs, the book goes on devotes the next several chapters to describing a wide variety of dinosaur taxa and how they are related to each other. The chapters are grouped into parts, each part starts off with some high level discussion of a taxon. Then the individual chapters go on to elaborate the points by describing the taxa within the taxon. The chapters usually start with a description of the taxa's anatomy, distribution and behavior. Typically a fairly coarse grained clade diagram is presented early and more fine grained diagrams are presented as the chapter continues. The characteristics that distinguish one taxa from another are also described. The material isn't just presented as facts, it is justified by evidence from the fossil record. I liked the level of detail the authors typically chose, however someone else may want more or less. The final two chapters of the theropod part deal with the evolution of birds. I found the discussion of the origin of feathers to be very good. I especially enjoyed the illustrations (I thought the illustrations throughout the book were quite good) showing how they evolved and the structure of feathers used for flying versus those primarily useful for insulation. The remainder of the book deals with dinosaurs as a whole. I thought the chapter on thermoregulation was very good, much of the information being useful for studying animals in general, not just dinosaurs (the same could be said for several other parts of the book too). Following the thermoregulation chapter there is a chapter on patterns in dinosaur evolution that I thought really tied the previous material in the book together. The treatment of non-avian dinosaur extinction was excellent and balanced. My one quibble about the content concerns what I consider to be an omission. The authors address the question of "is a cow a fish". They naturally answer "yes". In my opinion it would have been nice if they had then gone on to discuss this in more detail, explaining how this means fish don't form a clade. This would have been a good opportunity to discuss the concept of a grade and perhaps paraclade too. The reason I this discussing fish as a grade is important is that basically everybody has an idea that there is a group of animals they can classify as fish and this group doesn't include cows. I think it would've been nice to help them understand what they mean when they think of fish and why it doesn't conflict with the statement "a cow is a fish". There are a couple errors, but they are easily recognized. For example on page 77 they refer to synapids as reptiles then on the following two pages they break up amniotes into synapsids and reptiles. Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems like a contradiction. As much as I liked this book it's not for everyone (what book would be?). Obviously it's not cheap. If you're not interesting in dinosaur cladistics this book probably is not a great choice. If your main interest is more along the lines of a dinosaur catalog with descriptions of various dinosaur ways of life you can certainly find better books, especially at the price (although I still think this would be a good book). However, if you are interested in dinosaur evolution, along with how dinosaurs made their way in the world, then I think this is a great book.

いささか古い本なので、内容(学説紹介)も最新ではない。温血説、羽毛説、惑星衝突説などが主流になる前のもの。でも、多岐にわたる記述でいま読み返しても結構面白い。出版時は高価(6,800円)で、もっぱら図書館で読んだが、中古が安くなったので購入。

Good

A brilliant book which I purchased for a 2nd year undergraduate palaeobiology module - and read twice before the module even started! There is much more information than graduate level requires and an extensive list of references at the end of chapters which is incredibly helpful for coursework. However I would also encourage anyone with an interest in dinosaurs to get this book - it doesn't contain scientific jargon unnecessarily (or unexplained) and is beautifully written with imagination-provoking drawings. It is a pleasure to read and gripping for anyone with an interest in Dinosaurs, and details how fossils are made and excavated, changes in the earth's surface and climate and many other details to flesh out the Dinosaur facts. And if that's not enough it really helped my grade!

Livre tout à fait intéressant, qui survole la nature, l'évolution et l'extinction des dinosaures. Livre fouillé, mais point trop savant. (de plus l'exemplaire du livre acheté d'occasion a une histoire: il a bourlingué à travers le monde )

Good outward appeareance but found book heaily highlighted upon reading