Flying Dinosaurs: How Fearsome Reptiles Became Birds

Abstract

Flying Dinosaurs is a timely popular work, focusing especially on the latest research related to the dinosaur-bird link. This short and enjoyable book provides an updated summary of discoveries such as dinosaurs preserved with their feathers (including evidence of feather color), evidence of bird-like behavior (such as dinosaurs found in bird-like sleep positions, or brooding above a nest of eggs), bird-like diseases in dinosaurs, and other exciting advances involving a parade of new species of dino-birds from all over the world, especially China. The author conveys information accurately while at the same time using a colloquial and even humorous style, and entertains with diverse anecdotes that surround scientific research, such as the discovery of the first feathered dinosaur, Sinosauropteryx, and the infamous fake fossil of “Archaeoraptor” (a “piltdown” of bird origins, born out of the illegal commerce of fossils).