eBook downloads, eBook resources & eBook authors
The idea of an evolutionary link between dinosaurs and birds has changed from a view held by only a few to a general consensus. This work spotlights the some new finds and shows how scientists studied the fossils of dinosaurs and primitive birds.
Scientists have recovered more than a billion fossils, but no discovery has been more breath-taking than the fossils recently found in northern China, findings which prove that several families of dinosaurs had feathers, or feathery hair-like coverings, adorning their bodies. Now in the beautifully designed Feathered Dinosaurs, paleontologist John Long and illustrator Peter Schouten provide a stunning visual record of these extraordinary prehistoric creatures, illuminating the evolutionary march from primitive, feathered dinosaurs through to the first true flying birds. Schouten, an acclaimed natural history artist, has created 80 full-color paintings that capture the striking physical traits of these feathered dinosaurs. Drawing on his extensive knowledge of the lifestyles of modern birds and mammals, plus the extant scientific data regarding how these dinosaurs might have looked and behaved, Schouten has produced not only the most beautiful but also the most accurate visual representations of these animals in print. Equally important, John Long, a noted paleontologist and widely published science author (with some 24 books to his credit), provides an engaging companion text that places these feathered dinosaurs within the larger family of dinosaurs--for instance, outlining their relationship to T. Rex and Velociraptor, species well known to Jurassic Park fans--and discusses the factual information that can be deduced from their fossil remains, in effect providing an insightful natural history of this remarkable group. A true marriage of art and science, Feathered Dinosaurs presents an unprecedented visual record of one of the most significant breakthroughs in the history of vertebrate paleontology--the discovery that many predatory dinosaurs were cloaked with feathers, perhaps just as colorful and fanciful as those of their living relatives.
Dinosaurs disappeared completely from the Earth many, many years ago...or did they? An ALA Notable Children's Book A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year! Millions of years ago, dinosaurs roamed the shores of Mesozoic seas. They lay eggs in the shade of ginkgo trees, and as time went on, dinosaurs grew, and grew, and grew. There were so many different species of dinosaurs. Large, monstrous, and fearsome, they ruled the earth. Until gradually, there were no dinosaurs left. But they didn't disappear completely. Some dinosaurs had feathers, which grew and grew...until all through the skies were hundreds of species of birds, which flew and flew. From the bestselling creator of Dinosaur Dream Dennis Nolan comes a poetic nonfiction picture book about how dinosaurs evolved into birds. A Bank Street Best Book of the Year - Outstanding Merit An ILA-CBC Children's Choice!
Selected by NPR's Maureen Corrigan and The Wall Street Journal's Tom Nolan as one of the best mysteries of the year, Gazan's The Dinosaur Feather--which the Financial Times called "outrageously entertaining"--is a classic of modern Scandinavian noir. With keenly observed and deeply flawed characters, this scintillating thriller revolves around the controversial and fascinating connections between dinosaur and avian evolution. Biology postgraduate, PhD hopeful, and single mom Anna Bella Nor is just two weeks away from defending her thesis on the saurian origin of birds when her academic supervisor, the highly respected yet widely despised Dr. Lars Helland, is found dead in his office chair at the University of Copenhagen. The police discover a copy of Anna's thesis in the dead man's bloody lap. When the autopsy suggests that Helland was murdered in a fiendishly ingenious way, brilliant but tormented young Police Superintendent Soren Marhauge is called to investigate. As he begins the daunting task of unraveling the knotted skeins of interpersonal and intellectual intrigue among the scientists at the university, his own troubled past begins to complicate the case. Everyone involved with the investigation--from Anna Bella Nor to Helland's numerous academic rivals to Marhauge's own ex-wife, who is pregnant with her current husband's child--has something to hide, muddying the investigation and presenting the detective with the greatest professional and personal challenge of his life.
Dinosaurs didn’t die out when an asteroid hit Earth 66 million years ago. Get ready to unthink what you thought you knew and journey into the deep, dark depths of the Jurassic. The discovery of the first feathered dinosaur in China in 1996 sent shockwaves through the palaeontological world. Were the feathers part of a complex mating ritual, or a stepping stone in the evolution of flight? And just how closely related T. rex to a chicken Award-winning journalist John Pickrell reveals how dinosaurs developed flight and became the birds in our backyards. He delves into the latest discoveries in China, the US, Europe and uncovers a thriving black market in fossils and infighting between dinosaur hunters, plus the controversial plan to use a chicken to bring dinosaurs back from the dead.
Step back in time 124 million years to Liaoning, China, and see what life was like in this ancient ecosystem. Follow several recently discovered dinosaur species through a typical day, as they feed, fight, hunt, and try to survive. Scientific sculptor and illustrator Gregory Wenzel takes readers inside the world of the feathered dinosaurs and sheds light on the link betweeen dinosaurs and birds.
