Reviews
Paul has succeeded in producing a beautiful book that will be an invaluable reference for those interested in avian origins for many years to come.
If you want to dig seriously into one of today's most fascinating evolutionary debates, and aren't afraid of anatomy, you'll delight in Dinosaurs of the Air.
In Dinosaurs of the Air, Greg Paul provides us with original and innovative ideas, fine analysis, beautiful illustrations, and an important contribution to the literature of paleontology. It takes an innovative direction, suggesting that many groups of birdlike dinosaurs are the flightless descendants of animals that we would normally consider birds. It thus has the potential to become a true classic.
In Dinosaurs of the Air, [Paul] boldly discusses the idea that familiar Cretaceous dinosaurs such as Velociraptor and Oviraptor may have had flying ancestors. While many will disagree with Paul's conclusions, his artistic skill and original thinking will make them hard to ignore.
Book Details
Preface
Part I: Getting Started
Chapter 1: A History
Chapter 2: The Science of Bird Origins
Part II: Skeletons, Bones and Other Remains of the Mesozoic
Chapter 3: Skulls
Chapter 4: Skeletons
Chapter 5
Preface
Part I: Getting Started
Chapter 1: A History
Chapter 2: The Science of Bird Origins
Part II: Skeletons, Bones and Other Remains of the Mesozoic
Chapter 3: Skulls
Chapter 4: Skeletons
Chapter 5: Feathers and Other Fluff
Part III: Flight: How and Why it Evolves, Why it is Lost, and How to Tell When
Chapter 6: The Beginnings of Flight: From the Ground Up, or the Trees Down?
Chapter 7: The Early Evolution of Flight
Chapter 8: The Loss of Flight
Part IV: The Archaeopteryx problem
Chapter 9: Lifestyle for the Urvogel
Part V: Who Is Related to Whom, and Why?
Chapter 10: Looking for the True Bird Ancestor
Chapter 11: Were Some Dinosaurs Neoflightless Birds?
Chapter 12: A Look at the Phylogenetics of Predatory Dinosaurs
Part VI: A Modest Scenario
Chapter 13: The Mesozoic
Chapter 14: The Great Extinction
Chapter 15: The Cenozoic
Appendix
Bibliography
Index