Meat-eating theropod dinosaurs have been recognized as potential ancestors of birds since the 19th century, but it was not until the 1960s that work on Deinonychus revealed the startling similarities between dinosaurs and birds. With each new small theropod find the ties became stronger, until the discovery of Sinosauropteryx--a dinosaur with feathers! Though not all scientists accept the concept of birds' being phylogenetically nested within the Dinosauria, others are now focusing on the evolution of feathers and avian flight. This book presents 15 new pieces of research, including the first detailed description of Bambiraptor, a remarkable new specimen from Montana.
Contributors are Robert T. Bakker, David Burnham, Sankar Chatterjee, Luis M. Chiappe, James M. Clark, Philip J. Currie, Stephen J. Godfrey, Gerald Grellet-Turner, Thomas P. Hopp, Frankie K. Jackson, Peter J. Makovicky, Mark A. Norell, Fernando E. Novas, Mark J. Orsen, Gregory J. Retallack, Dale A. Russell, R. J. Templin, David J. Varricchio, Peter Wellnhofer, and Joanna L. Wright.
About the Author: Philip J. Currie is Curator of Dinosaurs at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology.
Eva B. Koppelhus is a palynologist and Adjunct Research Scientist at the Royal Tyrrell Museum.
Martin A. Shugar, M.D., F.A.C.S., was director of the Florida Institute of Paleontology at the Graves Museum of Archaeology and Natural History.
Joanna L. Wright is Assistant Professor of Geology at the University of Colorado at Denver and Associate Director, CU-MWC Fossil Footprint Collection.
