Donald R. Prothero

The Story of the Dinosaurs in 25 Discoveries (eBook, ePUB)

Amazing Fossils and the People Who Found Them

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

Today, any kid can rattle off the names of dozens of dinosaurs. But it took centuries of scientific effort-and a lot of luck-to discover and establish the diversity of dinosaur species we now know. How did we learn that Triceratops had three horns? Why don't many paleontologists consider Brontosaurus a valid species? What convinced scientists that modern birds are relatives of ancient Velociraptor?

In The Story of the Dinosaurs in 25 Discoveries, Donald R. Prothero tells the fascinating stories behind the most important fossil finds and the intrepid researchers who unearthed them. In twenty-five vivid vignettes, he weaves together dramatic tales of dinosaur discoveries with what modern science now knows about the species to which they belong. Prothero takes us from eighteenth-century sightings of colossal bones taken for biblical giants through recent discoveries of enormous predators even larger than Tyrannosaurus. He recounts the escapades of the larger-than-life personalities who made modern paleontology, including scientific rivalries like the nineteenth-century "Bone Wars." Prothero also details how to draw the boundaries between species and explores debates such as whether dinosaurs had feathers, explaining the findings that settled them or keep them going. Throughout, he offers a clear and rigorous look at what paleontologists consider sound interpretation of evidence. An essential read for any dinosaur lover, this book teaches us to see an ancient world ruled by giant majestic creatures anew.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Columbia University Press
• Erscheinungstermin: 16. Juli 2019
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780231546461
• Artikelnr.: 56832837

Autorenporträt

Donald R. Prothero is a paleontology and geology researcher, teacher, and author. He is adjunct professor of geological sciences at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and research associate in vertebrate paleontology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. His Columbia University Press books include The Story of Life in 25 Fossils: Tales of Intrepid Fossil Hunters and the Wonders of Evolution (2015) and The Story of the Earth in 25 Rocks: Tales of Important Geological Puzzles and the People Who Solved Them (2018).

Inhaltsangabe

Preface Acknowledgments Part I. In the Beginning 1. Megalosaurus: The
Great Lizard,
the
Scrotum Humanum
, and the First Named Dinosaur 2. Iguanodon: Gideon Mantell, Louis Dollo, and the First Dinosaur Fauna 3. Cetiosaurus: The
Whale Lizard,
Richard Owen, and the First Known Sauropod 4. Hadrosaurus: Joseph Leidy and the First American Dinosaur 5. Eoraptor: The First Dinosaurs Part II. The Long-Necked Giants 6. Plateosaurus: Ancestors of the Giants 7. Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus: Marsh, Cope, and the Bone Wars 8. Diplodocus: The Real
Jurassic Park
and Carnegie
s Gift 9. Giraffatitan: The Tallest of the Tall, and the Tendaguru 10. Patagotitan: Whös the Biggest of Them All? Part III. Red in Tooth and Claw: The Theropods 11. Coelophysis: The Little Dinosaur of Ghost Ranch 12. Cryolophosaurus: Denizen of the Polar Darkness 13. Spinosaurus: Lost Giants of Egypt 14. Tyrannosaurus: King of the Tyrant Reptiles 15. Giganotosaurus: Biggest Predator of All? 16. Deinocheirus:
Terrible Hands
Lead to Big Surprises 17. Velociraptor:
Terrible Claws
and the Dinosaur Renaissance 18. Sinosauropteryx: Feathered Dinosaurs and the Origin of Birds Part IV. Horns and Spikes and Armor and Duck Beaks: The Ornithischians 19. Heterodontosaurus: The Origin of Ornithischians 20. Stegosaurus: The
Roofed Lizard
and the Thagomizer 21. Ankylosaurus: Armored Dinosaurs and
Mr. Bones
22. Corythosaurus: Duckbills with Headgear 23. Stegoceras: The
Unicorn Dinosaur
and the Boneheads 24. Protoceratops: The Griffin Legend and the Origin of Horned Dinosaurs 25. Triceratops: The
Dinosaurian Bison
and the Last of the Dinosaurs Index