Digging for Bird Dinosaurs: An Expedition to Madagascar

by Nic Bishop

Overview

The extinction of dinosaurs some sixty-five million years ago is one of the greatest biological catastrophes in the history of our planet. Yet in recent years, paleontologists have turned up increasing evidence that ancestors of one group of dinosaurs still fly among us: birds. Join Cathy Forster, one of the few female paleontologists working today, on an expedition to Madagascar in search of clues to the mystery of bird evolution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780618196821
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/25/2002
Series:	Scientists in the Field Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	11.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.18(d)
Lexile:	1000L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

Nic Bishop, who holds a doctorate in the biological sciences, is the photographer of many acclaimed books for children. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand.Visit his website at: nicbishop.com  

Editorial Reviews

Gr 5-8-This attractive photo-essay focuses on Cathy Forster, a specialist in bird fossils, and on a 1998 expedition to the island of Madagascar. Working a fossil "quarry" of animals apparently drowned and deposited during a long-ago deluge, the paleontologists discover an engrossing m lange of pieces of Late Cretaceous creatures, mostly new to science. Fragments of prehistoric snakes, crocodilians, fish, and turtles mix with sauropods, theropods, and birdlike remains. The conversational text follows the team efforts, recorded as well in the crisp full-color photos, showing the scientists at work in their brutally hot, waterless site. It also records the cooperative efforts of hospitable villagers, and includes an appeal to help them build a local school for their children. The book concludes with a surprising find in a chunk of sandstone shipped to the U.S. from a 1995 expedition-the partial skeleton of a bird equipped with a small sickle claw, similar to those previously found only on theropods like Velociraptor. Team this fine title with Miriam Schlein's excellent The Puzzle of the Dinosaur-Birds (Dial, 1996) and Lowell Dingus and Mark Norell's fascinating Searching for Velociraptor (HarperCollins, 1996) and A Nest of Dinosaurs (Doubleday, 1999) and you'll have young dinophiles packing up to join an expedition.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

School Library Journal

Readers of this photographic essay join paleontologist Cathy Forster and a team of scientists hunting for bird-dinosaur fossils on the island of Madagascar, off the coast of Africa. The pictures and text show both the drudgery (chipping away at hard rock in 100-degree heat) and the thrill of discovery as the awl hits something hard that's buried underneath. Then the author, an outstanding photographer known for such titles as Red-Eyed Tree Frog (1999), describes how the scientist scrapes away the sandstone to reveal a tiny pink-brown fossil bone. Dinosaur lovers will not find the dramatic big bones of other field trips in this work, but middle school science enthusiasts will learn about "Scientists in the Field," as the series title indicates. Photographs and text show the tools and painstaking processes by which scientists uncover, label, excavate, and prepare fossil finds for further study in laboratories and museums. Other sections provided detailed information about methods used to study and classify fossils in the university laboratory. Forster also gives biographical information, explaining her early love of dinosaurs and her current work as a paleontologist at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. A good look at a contemporary scientist. (list of further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews