Christopher McGowan sets out to solve some of the enduring mysteries about dinosaurs and other prehistoric reptiles. He makes fascinating comparisons between living and extinct animals while presenting topics that range from gigantism to intellect. In addition to exploring the natural history of the Mesozoic Era, McGowan draws on science and engineering concepts to explain curiosities such as the similarities between the aerodynamics of pteranodons and Spitfire planes.
Christopher McGowan is Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and Professor of Zoology at the University of Toronto.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Material Things
Primary Data
How the Vertebrate Skeleton Works
Reading a Dinosaur Skeleton
A Matter of Scale
What's Hot and What's Not
Brains and Intellect
Not Wholly a Fish
The Mechanics of Swimming
The Sea Dragons
The Winged Phantom
Out with a Whimper or a Bang?
Epilogue
Notes
References
Credits
Index
What People are Saying About This
Dinosaurs are so popular that we often neglect the even more fascinating reptiles of their time that evolved in the most unreptilian habitats of sea (ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and their allies) and air (pterosaurs). McGowan, world's leading expert on ichthyosaurs, and a fine writer as well, tells their wonderful story better than ever before--and doesn't neglect the more conventional dinosaurs either.
Stephen Jay Gould
Dinosaurs are so popular that we often neglect the even more fascinating reptiles of their time that evolved in the most unreptilian habitats of sea (ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and their allies) and air (pterosaurs). McGowan, world's leading expert on ichthyosaurs, and a fine writer as well, tells their wonderful story better than ever before--and doesn't neglect the more conventional dinosaurs either.
