Dinosaurs: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
David Norman
Language: English
Pages: 176
ISBN: 0192804197
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
The popularity of dinosaurs seems never ending, as evidenced by the popularity of films such Jurassic Park and documentaries like Walking with Dinosaurs. But how much do these types of entertainment really tell us about recent scientific discoveries and the latest research into the world of the dinosaur?
This is the first book explain how scientists have been able to put together a picture of how dinosaurs looked, what they ate, and how they moved and interacted with each other. Taking a new approach to the subject, David Norman combines different areas of science, such as anatomy, genetics, forensics, and engineering design, to piece together the latest evidence of how animal life evolved on earth. Norman engagingly lays out the history of dinosaur research, from the speculation over ancient myths about dragons, to the latest virtual reality animation sequences and engineering design analysis. He also discusses the role that informed speculation and luck has played in many of the major discoveries.
This book is a fantastic introduction for those just beginning to take an interest in dinosaurs and a must-read for true dinosaur-lovers who want to know not just the latest theories and discoveries, but how scientists achieved them.
50 ii) Some dinosaurs had complex, bird-like lungs, which would have permitted them to breathe more efficiently – as would be necessary for a highly energetic creature. iii) Dinosaurs could, based on the proportions of their limbs, run at speed (unlike lizards and crocodiles). However, borrowing from the fields of histology, pathology, and microscopy, Bakker reported that thin sections of dinosaur bone, when viewed under a microscope, showed evidence of a complex structure and rich blood
in his or her own narrow area of expertise. However, this part of the story does not end here. John Ostrom had another important part to play in this saga. Ostrom and Archaeopteryx: the earliest bird Having described Deinonychus, Ostrom continued to investigate the biological properties of dinosaurs. In the early 1970s a trifling discovery in a museum in Germany was to bring him right back to the centre of some heated discussions. While examining collections Dinosa of flying reptiles, Ostrom
prey; their heads also tend to be rather large, and their jaws lined with sharp, knife-like teeth. These types of dinosaur range from small and rather delicate creatures similar to Compsognathus, which are commonly referred to as coelurosaurs, through to such enormous creatures such as the legendary Tyrannosaurus, while other equally large and fearsome-looking theropods include Giganotosaurus, Allosaurus, Baryonyx, and Spinosaurus. Although some of these dinosaurs may be well known, the group as
furry or feathered lizard is a biological impossibility. Birds from dinosaurs: an evolutionary commentary The implications of these new discoveries are truly fascinating. It has already been argued, with logic and some force, that small theropod dinosaurs were highly active, fast-moving, and biologically ‘sophisticated’ animals. On this basis, they seemed reasonable candidates as potential endotherms; in a sense, our inferences about their way of life suggested that they had most to benefit from
meteorite would have Th impacted on a sea floor that was naturally rich in water, carbonate, e fu and sulphate; this would have propelled as much as 200 gigatons ture of researc each of sulphur dioxide and water vapour into the stratosphere. Impact models based on the geometry of the crater itself suggest that the impact was oblique and from the south-east. This trajectory h on th would have concentrated the expelled gases towards North America. The fossil record certainly suggests that