Re: Dinosaurs of the Air

[Dinosaur Interplanetary Gazette <dinosaur@dinosaur.org>]

DINOSAURS OF THE AIR
 The Evolution and Loss of Flight in Dinosaurs and Birds
 Gregory S. Paul

 $49.95 | hardcover | 0-8018-6763-0
 October 2001, 400 pp., 147 illustrations

 "In Dinosaurs of the Air, Greg Paul provides us with original and innovative 
ideas, fine analysis,
 beautiful illustrations, and an important contribution to the literature of 
paleontology. It takes an
 innovative direction, suggesting that many groups of birdlike dinosaurs are 
the flightless descendants
 of animals that we would normally consider birds. It thus has the potential to 
become a true
 classic."--Lawrence Witmer, Ohio University

 "As a dinosaur paleontologist, I have had a long interest in the artistic and 
scientific aspects of Greg

 Paul's work. In Dinosaurs of the Air, he boldly discusses the idea that 
familiar Cretaceous
 dinosaurs such as Velociraptor and Oviraptor may have had flying ancestors. 
While many will
 disagree with Paul's conclusions, his artistic skill and original thinking 
will make them hard to
 ignore."--Thomas R. Holtz, Jr., University of Maryland, College Park

 Dinosaurs of the Air: The Evolution and Loss of Flight in Dinosaurs and Birds 
presents the
 most recent work of renowned evolutionary scientist and dinosaur illustrator 
Gregory Paul.
 Dinosaurs of the Air synthesizes the growing body of evidence which suggests 
that modern-day
 birds have evolved from theropod dinosaurs of prehistoric times. Paul argues 
provocatively for the
 idea that the ancestor-descendant relationship between the dinosaurs and birds 
can on occasion be
 reversed, and that many dinosaurs were secondarily flightless descendants of 
creatures we would
 regard as birds. Controversial and comprehensive, Dinosaurs of the Air also 
offers new, firsthand
 interpretations of major fossils; a balanced, rewarding discussion of the ways 
we think flight may
 have evolved (comparing "ground up" and "trees down" scenarios); a close look 
at the famous
 urvogel Archaeopteryx, discussing what it can and cannot tell us about bird 
origins; and in-depth
 analyses of bird and theropod phylogenetics. Full of rich detail for the 
specialist but accessible to
 the intelligent lay reader, the book includes the author's own stunning 
illustrations and a technical
 appendix which provides information, for example, on body mass/wing dimension 
relationships and
 avian/dinosaurian metabolics.

      Gregory S. Paul is a freelance scientist and scientific illustrator 
specializing in dinosaur
      evolution. Illustrations from his book Predatory Dinosaurs of the World, 
along with
      specific skeletal studies of theropods he was commissioned to prepare, 
were used in the
      making of the Jurassic Park movies.

Jordan Mallon wrote:

> Hmmm...
> Not sure if anyone else has noticed this, but it seems that HP Greg Paul has
> got a new book in press called _Dinosaurs of the Air : The Evolution and
> Loss of Flight in Dinosaurs and Birds_.  Follow the link for more info:
>
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0801867630/qid=994648129/sr=1-4/ref=sc_b_4/104-3013036-6976718
>
> Should make for some interesting readin'.
>
> -Jordan Mallon
>
> http://www.geocities.com/paleoportfolio/
>
> _________________________________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

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