Of Whales and Dinosaurs

Of Whales and Dinosaurs
Author: Kevin Y.L. Tan
Publisher: NUS Press
Total Pages: 287
Release: 2015-04-18
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9971698552

Singapore's collection of Southeast Asian animals–one of the world's largest–dates back to the old Raffles Museum, officially established in 1878.With the opening of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum in 2015, the original Raffles Museum has "reincarnated" and the loop on its remarkable 127-year history has closed. Beneath the sleek exterior of today's modern museum building lies a saga of titanic struggles and changes. That the collections survived at all–through the multiple challenges of the nineteenth century, the disruption of World War Two, and its potential disintegration in the face of Singapore's modernization–is nothing short of miraculous. This book is not only an institutional history of the museum but also tells the story of frustrations, commitment and courage of the numerous individuals who battled officialdom, innovated endlessly and overcame the odds to protect Singapore's natural history heritage. The book features 108 historical photographs and natural history illustrations printed in full colour throughout.

Dinosaurs of the Air

Dinosaurs of the Air
Author: Gregory S. Paul
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 484
Release: 2002-05
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9780801867637

This book synthesises the growing body of evidence which suggests that modern-day birds have evolved from theropod dinosaurs of prehistoric times. The author argues that the ancestor-descendant relationship can also be reversed.

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs
Author: Donald F. Glut
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 466
Release: 2000
Genre: Nature
ISBN:

This is the first supplement to a 1997 work named an ALA Outstanding Reference Book: Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia. Maintaining the arrangement of the primary volume, the supplement brings information up to date late into 1998, and includes information on new dinosaurian genera, new species, and new life restorations. Section I provides introductory material on ectothermy versus endothermy and dinosaur extinction, and Section II continues the ordering of dinosaurian systematics. Section III continues the alphabetical compilation of new dinosaurian genera, and Section IV details doubtful genera that have appeared in the paleontological literature. The author is a filmmaker and dinosaur authority. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Noah's Ravens

Noah's Ravens
Author: James O. Farlow
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 656
Release: 2018-10-08
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0253037166

How can the tracks of dinosaurs best be interpreted and used to reconstruct them? In many Mesozoic sedimentary rock formations, fossilized footprints of bipedal, three-toed (tridactyl) dinosaurs are preserved in huge numbers, often with few or no skeletons. Such tracks sometimes provide the only clues to the former presence of dinosaurs, but their interpretation can be challenging: How different in size and shape can footprints be and yet have been made by the same kind of dinosaur? How similar can they be and yet have been made by different kinds of dinosaurs? To what extent can tridactyl dinosaur footprints serve as proxies for the biodiversity of their makers? Profusely illustrated and meticulously researched, Noah's Ravens quantitatively explores a variety of approaches to interpreting the tracks, carefully examining within-species and across-species variability in foot and footprint shape in nonavian dinosaurs and their close living relatives. The results help decipher one of the world's most important assemblages of fossil dinosaur tracks, found in sedimentary rocks deposited in ancient rift valleys of eastern North America. Those often beautifully preserved tracks were among the first studied by paleontologists, and they were initially interpreted as having been made by big birds—one of which was jokingly identified as Noah's legendary raven.

Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs

Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs
Author: Philip J. Currie
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 901
Release: 1997-10-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0080494749

This book is the most authoritative encyclopedia ever prepared on dinosaurs and dinosaur science. In addition to entries on specific animals such as Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, and Velociraptor, the Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs covers reproduction, behavior, physiology, and extinction. The book is generously illustrated with many detailed drawings and photographs, and includes color pictures and illustrations that feature interpretations of the best known and most important animals. All alphabetical entries are cross-referenced internally, as well as at the end of each entry. The Encyclopedia includes up-to-date references that encourage the reader to investigate personal interests. The most authoritative encyclopedia ever prepared on dinosaurs Includes many detailed drawings, photographs and illustrations in both color and black-and-white Contains comprehensively cross-referenced alphabetical entries with internal references, as well as references at the conclusion of each entry Provides in-depth references, allowing readers to pursue independent interests Includes sixteen plates and 35 color illustrations

Living Dinosaurs

Living Dinosaurs
Author: Dr. Gareth Dyke
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 440
Release: 2011-02-15
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1119990459

Living Dinosaurs offers a snapshot of our current understanding of the origin and evolution of birds. After slumbering for more than a century, avian palaeontology has been awakened by startling new discoveries on almost every continent. Controversies about whether dinosaurs had real feathers or whether birds were related to dinosaurs have been swept away and replaced by new and more difficult questions: How old is the avian lineage? How did birds learn to fly? Which birds survived the great extinction that ended the Mesozoic Era and how did the avian genome evolve? Answers to these questions may help us understand how the different kinds of living birds are related to one another and how they evolved into their current niches. More importantly, they may help us understand what we need to do to help them survive the dramatic impacts of human activity on the planet.

Dinosaurs in the Attic

Dinosaurs in the Attic
Author: Douglas J. Preston
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2014-07-14
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1466871873

Dinosaurs in the Attic is a chronicle of the expeditions, discoveries, and scientists behind the greatest natural history collection ever assembled. Written by former Natural History columnist Douglas J. Preston, who worked at the American Museum of Natural History for seven years, this is a celebration of the best-known and best-loved museum in the United States.

Tyrannosaurid Paleobiology

Tyrannosaurid Paleobiology
Author: J. Michael Parrish
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2013-07-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0253009472

Drawn from a 2005 international symposium, these essays explore current tyrannosaurid current research and discoveries regarding Tyrannosaurus rex. The opening of an exhibit focused on “Jane,” a beautifully preserved tyrannosaur collected by the Burpee Museum of Natural History, was the occasion for an international symposium on tyrannosaur paleobiology. This volume, drawn from the symposium, includes studies of the tyrannosaurids Chingkankousaurus fragilis and “Sir William” and the generic status of Nanotyrannus; theropod teeth, pedal proportions, brain size, and craniocervical function; soft tissue reconstruction, including that of “Jane”; paleopathology and tyrannosaurid claws; dating the “Jane” site; and tyrannosaur feeding and hunting strategies. Tyrannosaurid Paleobiology highlights the far ranging and vital state of current tyrannosaurid dinosaur research and discovery. “Despite being discovered over 100 years ago, Tyrannosaurus rex and its kin still inspire researchers to ask fundamental questions about what the best known dinosaur was like as a living, breathing animal. Tyrannosaurid Paleobiology present a series of wide-ranging and innovative studies that cover diverse topics such as how tyrannosaurs attacked and dismembered prey, the shapes and sizes of feet and brains, and what sorts of injuries individuals sustained and lived with. There are also examinations of the diversity of tyrannosaurs, determinations of exactly when different kinds lived and died, and what goes into making a museum exhibit featuring tyrannosaurs. This volume clearly shows that there is much more to the study of dinosaurs than just digging up and cataloguing old bones.” —Donald M. Henderson, Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology