RE: looking for some reading material

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@geol.umd.edu>]

> From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> Dr. Darrin T. Milne B.Sc., D.C.
>
>
> So, cutting to the chase: I am very
> interested
> in reading scholary opinion (not so much fictional ideas,
> although they may
> be one and the same) about the hypothetical dinosaurs. Is there anything
> available that I can read that reviews the _possible dinosaurs_?

Well, in point of fact, the scholarly opinion is to remain mum on
hypothetical dinosaurs, at least in general. Yes, we know that we don't know
all the types of dinosaurs that there were. However, the safest approach is
to not go making them up...

To be fair, we can reasonably infer the probable conditions of common
ancestors of various groups, and that makes it into the literature (often
with regards to bird origins). Additionally, Greg Paul wrote a technical
paper in which he posited a set of possible Cenozoic non-avian dinosaurs in
an alternate Earth history. The most recent version of that is in The
Scientific American Book of Dinosaurs (Greg Paul, editor).

> In
> addition, I am reading Leakey's _Sixth Extinction_ and plan on
> reading _Song
> of the Dodo_ (author?). Any other suggestions for extiction opinion?

Well, it does discuss extinctions, at least in an American context, from K/T
to the 21st Century:
Flannery, Tim. 2001. The Eternal Frontier: An Ecological History of North
America and Its People. Atlantic Monthly Press.

                Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
                Vertebrate Paleontologist
Department of Geology           Director, Earth, Life & Time Program
University of Maryland          College Park Scholars
                College Park, MD  20742
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/tholtz.htm
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/eltsite
Phone:  301-405-4084    Email:  tholtz@geol.umd.edu
Fax (Geol):  301-314-9661       Fax (CPS-ELT): 301-405-0796