Discovering Dinosaurs

by Norell, Mark; Gaffney, Eugene S.; Dingus, Lowell

• ISBN13: 9780520225015
• ISBN10: 0520225015
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-07-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

Expanded and updated This handsome book addresses the questions of what the fossil record tells us about the evolution and extinction of dinosaurs, what their relationship to the rest of the organic world was, and what we can learn from them about our own place in the history of life on our planet. This edition has been updated throughout, with a new final chapter that details exciting recent discoveries such as the feathered dinosaur fossils in China. ALERT: ONE LINE IS MISSING FROM PAGE XIII OF THIS BOOK. THE COMPLETE LINE SHOULD READ: "We hope that the following pages will introduce you to some of these questions." This error will be corrected in future editions of the book.

Author Biography

The authors are the curators responsible for the American Museum of Natural History's Hall of Dinosaurs. Mark Norell was co-leader of the American Museum of Natural History's Gobi Desert expeditions from 1992 to the present, in the course of which he discovered fossil remains of a new species of dinosaur as well as a unique dinosaur embryo. Eugene Gaffney is curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Museum. He is one of the world's leading specialists on fossil reptiles. Lowell Dingus is director of the Museum's Fossil Halls renovation. He served as head geologist on the Gobi Desert expeditions.

Table of Contents

Introduction	vii
The Evolutionary Relationships of Dinosaurs	xiv
A Phylogenetic Classification of Dinosaurs	xv
I QUESTIONS ABOUT DINOSAURS	1	(96)
What are dinosaurs?	2	(1)
What are the closest relatives of dinosaurs?	2	(3)
Why are dinosaur fossils so interesting?	5	(1)
Who discovered the first dinosaur bones?	6	(1)
Who coined the term ``dinosaur''?	7	(1)
How do dinosaurs get their names?	8	(3)
Why are birds a type of dinosaur?	11	(4)
How many different kinds of dinosaurs are there?	15	(2)
What is the earliest-known dinosaur?	17	(1)
Where did dinosaurs live?	18	(1)
What was the world like during the time of the dinosaurs?	19	(1)
Did dinosaurs really rule the world?	20	(1)
What other animals lived during the time of the dinosaurs?	21	(1)
How large were the biggest dinosaurs?	22	(3)
What are the smallest dinosaurs?	25	(1)
What was dinosaur skin like?	26	(3)
How many bones do dinosaurs have?	29	(1)
What kind of teeth do dinosaurs have?	30	(2)
What color were dinosaurs?	32	(1)
How fast did dinosaurs move?	33	(1)
Did dinosaurs make sounds?	34	(2)
What were the primary sensory capabilities of dinosaurs?	36	(1)
How intelligent were dinosaurs?	37	(2)
What did dinosaurs eat?	39	(3)
Did dinosaurs fight?	42	(3)
Did dinosaurs travel in herds?	45	(2)
How did dinosaurs mate?	47	(2)
How did dinosaurs give birth?	49	(1)
Did dinosaurs care for their young?	50	(2)
Were dinosaurs warm-blooded?	52	(3)
How fast did dinosaurs grow?	55	(2)
Were dinosaurs aquatic?	57	(2)
Did dinosaurs fly?	59	(2)
What was the last dinosaur?	61	(1)
Why did nonavian dinosaurs become extinct?	62	(8)
What other animals became extinct at the same time as nonavian dinosaurs?	70	(1)
Has any dinosaur DNA been found?	71	(2)
Did any nonavian dinosaurs survive the end of the Cretaceous?	73	(1)
What are fossils?	74	(1)
How do fossils form?	74	(2)
Why are dinosaur fossils so rare?	76	(2)
Where is the best place to find dinosaur fossils?	78	(3)
How do we estimate the age of dinosaur fossils?	81	(2)
How are dinosaur fossils collected?	83	(2)
How do museums acquire their dinosaur bones?	85	(2)
How are fossils prepared?	87	(2)
How are dinosaur mounts assembled in museums?	89	(2)
Where are dinosaurs that are not on display stored?	91	(2)
How accurate are artists' reconstructions of dinosaurs?	93	(2)
How does dinosaur study benefit modern humans?	95	(2)
II THE GREAT HALL OF DINOSAURS	97	(88)
Saurischians	98	(44)
Plateosaurus engelhardti	98	(1)
Camarasaurus lentus	99	(1)
Diplodocus longus	100	(2)
Apatosaurus excelsus	102	(3)
Barosaurus lentus	105	(2)
Coelophysis bauri	107	(3)
Allosaurus fragilis	110	(4)
Tyrannosaurus rex	114	(5)
Albertosaurus libratus	119	(2)
Struthiomimus altus	121	(2)
Ornitholestes hermanni	123	(1)
Oviraptor philoceratops	124	(2)
Microvenator celer	126	(1)
Saurornithoides mongoliensis	127	(2)
Deinonychus antirrhopus	129	(3)
Velociraptor mongoliensis	132	(2)
Mononykus olecranus	134	(2)
Hesperornis regalis	136	(1)
Diatryma gigantea	137	(1)
Presbyornis pervetus	138	(2)
Psilopterus australis	140	(2)
Ornithischians	142	(33)
Ankylosaurus magniventris	142	(2)
Sauropelta edwardsi	144	(1)
Edmontonia rugosidens	145	(1)
Stegosaurus stenops	146	(3)
Tenontosaurus tilletti	149	(1)
Camptosaurus dispar	150	(2)
Prosaurolophus maximus	152	(1)
Saurolophus osborni	153	(1)
Edmontosaurus annectens	154	(2)
Anatotitan copei	156	(2)
Corythosaurus casuarius	158	(2)
Hypacrosaurus altispinus	160	(1)
Lambeosaurus lambei	161	(2)
Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis	163	(2)
Psittacosaurus mongoliensis	165	(1)
Protoceratops andrewsi	166	(2)
Centrosaurus apertus	168	(2)
Styracosaurus albertensis	170	(2)
Triceratops horridus	172	(2)
Chasmosaurus kaiseni/Chasmosaurus belli	174	(1)
Tracks and Eggs	175	(1)
The Connecticut Valley Tracks	175	(2)
The Flaming Cliffs Dinosaur Nests	177	(2)
The Coal Mine Tracks	179	(2)
The Paluxy River Trackway	181	(3)
Eggs of Hypselosaurus priscus	184	(1)
III NEW DISCOVERIES	185	(12)
IV EXPEDITIONS OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY	197	(20)
The Medicine Bow Anticline, 1897-1902	198	(3)
The Hell Creek Beds, 1907-1918	201	(2)
The Red Deer River, 1905-1920	203	(3)
The Flaming Cliffs, 1922-1925	206	(3)
The Western Gobi, 1991-1995	209	(5)
Lioaning, 1999-present	214	(3)
Index	217	(3)
Illustration Credits And Acknowledgments	220