{"product_id":"living-dinosaurs-9780470656662","title":"Living Dinosaurs","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLiving Dinosaurs\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This book is a very useful synopsis of current understanding of avian evolution.”  (\u003ci\u003eOpen University Geological Society Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, 1 May 2013)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e“No student in the field of bird history should be without this work. Additionally, this volume will inform those seriously interested in vertebrate evolution.”  (\u003ci\u003eThe Quarterly Review of Biology\u003c\/i\u003e, 1 December 2012)\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e“In short, \u003ci\u003eLiving Dinosaurs\u003c\/i\u003e is a most worthy and well crafted volume. Its strength is in providing a surprising number of really good reviews of many aspects of bird evolution and history, generally written by leading workers in the respective areas. I personally found the book highly useful in my own research and ended up citing many of its chapters in a recently published review of the avialan fossil record (Naish 2012)\u003cb\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e”  (\u003ci\u003eScientific American\u003c\/i\u003e, 26 August 2012)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e“All in all, the book might be useful for those who wish to keep abreast of various aspects of avian evolution, especially specialists in the field and those with specific interests in the topics covered.” (\u003ci\u003eThe Auk\u003c\/i\u003e, 2012)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals.\" (Choice, 1 November 2011)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Living Dinosaurs offers a snapshot of our current understanding of the origin and evolution of birds . . . a must have for those with an interest in avian paleontology and\/or systematics\". (Guardian, 8 May 2011)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"In Living Dinosaurs: The Evolutionary History of Modern Birds, researchers Gareth Dyke and Gary Kaiser set out to unite ornithologists and paleontologists to form a modern understanding of the evolution of birds at the beginning of the 21st century.\" (Bioscience Technology Online, 5 April 2011)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eForeword.  \u003cp\u003eList of Contributors.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePreface.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart 1 Introduction: the Deep Evolutionary History of Modern Birds.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIntroduction: Changing the Questions in Avian Paleontology (\u003ci\u003eGary Kaiser and Gareth Dyke\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1 Theropod Diversity and the Refinement of Avian Characteristics (\u003ci\u003ePeter J. Makovicky and Lindsay E. Zanno\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e2 Why Were There Dinosaurs? Why Are There Birds? (\u003ci\u003ePeter Ward and Robert Berner\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e3 Pre-modern Birds: Avian Divergences in the Mesozoic (\u003ci\u003eJingmai O'Connor, Luis M. Chiappe, and Alyssa Bell\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart 2 \"The Contribution of Paleontology to Ornithology\": the Diversity of Modern Birds: Fossils and the Avian Tree of Life.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e4 Progress and Obstacles in the Phylogenetics of Modern Birds (\u003ci\u003eBradley C. Livezey\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e5 The Utility of Fossil Taxa and the Evolution of Modern Birds: Commentary and Analysis (\u003ci\u003eGareth Dyke and Eoin Gardiner\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e6 Penguins Past, Present, and Future: Trends in the Evolution of the Sphenisciformes (\u003ci\u003eDaniel T. Ksepka and Tatsuro Ando\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e7 Phorusrhacids: the Terror Birds (\u003ci\u003eHerculano Alvarenga, Luis Chiappe, and Sara Bertelli\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e8 The Pseudo-toothed Birds (Aves, Odontopterygiformes) and their Bearing on the Early Evolution of Modern Birds (\u003ci\u003eEstelle Bourdon\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e9 Phylogeny and Diversification of Modern Passerines (\u003ci\u003eF. Keith Barker\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart 3 The Evolution of Key Avian Attributes.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e10 Morphological and Behavioral Correlates of Flapping Flight (\u003ci\u003eBret W. Tobalske, Douglas R. Warrick, Brandon E. Jackson, and Kenneth P. Dial\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e11 Evolution of the Avian Brain and Senses (\u003ci\u003eStig Walsh and Angela Milner\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e12 Evolving Perceptions on the Antiquity of the Modern Avian Tree (\u003ci\u003eJoseph W. Brown and M. Van Tuinen\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e13 Major Events in Avian Genome Evolution (\u003ci\u003eChris L. Organ and Scott V. Edwards\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e14 Bird Evolution Across the K–Pg Boundary and the Basal Neornithine Diversification (\u003ci\u003eBent E. K. Lindow\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e15 Functional and Phylogenetic Diversity in Marine and Aquatic Birds (\u003ci\u003eGary Kaiser\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart 4 The Future: Conservation and Climate Change.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e16 The State of the World’s Birds and the Future of Avian Diversity (\u003ci\u003eGavin H. Thomas\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eGlossary.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndex.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eColour plates.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"John Wiley and Sons Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49402389889367,"sku":"9780470656662","price":80.7,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780470656662.jpg?v=1730480251","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/living-dinosaurs-9780470656662","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}