Feathered Dragons

by Currie, Philip J.; Koppelhus, Eva B.; Shugar, Martin A.; Wright, Joanna L.

• ISBN13: 9780253343734
• ISBN10: 0253343739
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-04-01
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr

Summary

Meat-eating theropod dinosaurs have been recognized as potential ancestors of birds since the 19th century, but it was not until the 1960s that work on Deinonychus revealed the startling similarities between dinosaurs and birds. With each new small theropod find the ties became stronger, until the discovery of Sinosauropteryx -- a dinosaur with feathers! Though not all scientists accept the concept of birds' being phylogenetically nested within the Dinosauria, others are now focusing on the evolution of feathers and avian flight. This book presents 15 new pieces of research, including the first detailed description of Bambiraptor, a remarkable new specimen from Montana.Contributors are Robert T. Bakker, David Burnham, Sankar Chatterjee, Luis M. Chiappe, James M. Clark, Philip J. Currie, Stephen J. Godfrey, Gerald Grellet-Turner, Thomas P. Hopp, Frankie K. Jackson, Peter J. Makovicky, Mark A. Norell, Fernando E. Novas, Mark J. Orsen, Gregory J. Retallack, Dale A. Russell, R. J. Templin, David J. Varricchio, Peter Wellnhofer, and Joanna L. Wright.

Author Biography

Philip J. Currie is Curator of Dinosaurs at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology.

Eva B. Koppelhus is a palynologist and Adjunct Research Scientist at the Royal Tyrrell Museum.

Martin A. Shugar, M.D., F.A.C.S., was director of the Florida Institute of Paleontology at the Graves Museum of Archaeology and Natural History.

Joanna L. Wright is Assistant Professor of Geology at the University of Colorado at Denver and Associate Director, CU-MWC Fossil Footprint Collection.

Table of Contents

Contributors	ix
Foreword	xi
Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction: Dinosaurs Acting Like Birds, and Vice Versa-An Homage to the Reverend Edward Hitchcock, First Director of the Massachusetts Geological Survey
ROBERT T. BAKKER	1	(14)
Section I. The Setting
1. The Dinosaurian Setting of Primitive Asian Birds
DALE A. RUSSELL	15	(20)
2. End-Cretaceous Acid Rain as a Selective Extinction Mechanism between Birds and Dinosaurs
GREGORY J. RETALLACK	35	(32)
Section II. Osteology and Ichnology
3. New Information on Bambiraptor feinbergi (Theropoda: Dromaeosauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Montana
DAVID A. BURNHAM	67	(45)
4. A New Dromaeosaurid from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Alberta, Canada
PHILIP J. CURRIE AND DAVID J. VARRICCHIO	112	(21)
5. The Braincase of Velociraptor
MARK A. NORELL, PETER J. MAKOVICKY, AND JAMES M. CLARK	133	(11)
6. A Theropod (Dromaeosauridae, Dinosauria) Sternal Plate from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Campanian, Upper Cretaceous) of Alberta, Canada
STEPHEN J. GODFREY AND PHILIP J. CURRIE	144	(6)
7. Avian Traits in the Ilium of Unenlagia comahuensis (Maniraptora: Avialae)
FERNANDO E. NOVAS	150	(17)
8. Bird-Like Features of Dinosaur Footprints
JOANNA L. WRIGHT	167	(18)
Section III. Eggs, Nests, Feathers, and Flight
9. Dinosaur Eggs and Nesting: Implications for Understanding the Origin of Birds
GERALD GRELLET-TINNER AND LUIS M. CHIAPPE	185	(30)
10. Two Eggs Sunny-Side Up: Reproductive Physiology in the Dinosaur Troodon formosus
DAVID J. VARRICCHIO AND FRANKIE D. JACKSON	215	(19)
11. Dinosaur Brooding Behavior and the Origin of Flight Feathers
THOMAS P. HOPP AND MARK J. ORSEN	234	(17)
12. Feathered Coelurosaurs from China: New Light on the Arboreal Origin of Avian Flight
SANKAR CHATTERJEE AND R.J. TEMPLIN	251	(31)
13. The Plumage of Archaeopteryx: Feathers of a Dinosaur?
PETER WELLNHOFER	282	(19)
14. Dinosaur Crime Scene Investigations: Theropod Behavior at Como Bluff, Wyoming, and the Evolution of Birdness
ROBERT T. BAKKER AND GARY BIR	301	(42)
Index	343