About this item
The discovery of stunning, feathered dinosaur fossils coming out of China since 2006 suggest that these creatures were much more bird-like than paleontologists previously imagined. Further evidence -- bones, genetics, eggs, behavior, and more -- has shown a seamless transition from fleet-footed carnivores to the ancestors of modern birds.Mixing colorful portraits with news on the latest fossil findings and interviews with leading paleontologists in the United States, China, Europe, and Australia, John Pickrell explains and details dinosaurs' development of flight. This special capacity introduced a whole new range of abilities for the animals and helped them survive a mass extinction, when thousands of other dinosaur species that once populated the Earth did not. Pickrell also turns his journalistic eye toward the stories behind the latest discoveries, investigating the role of the Chinese black market in trading fossils, the controversies among various dinosaur hunters, the interference of national governments intent on protecting scientific information, and the race to publish findings first that make this research such a dynamic area of science.
About the Author
John Pickrell is an award-winning journalist, the editor of Australian Geographic magazine and the author of Flying Dinosaurs and Weird Dinosaurs. He has worked in London, Washington DC and Sydney for publications including New Scientist, Science, Science News and Cosmos. John's articles can also be found online and in print at BBC Wildlife, National Geographic, Scientific American, Focus and the ABC. When he's not writing or editing, he can be found on fossil digs in the Australian outback or Mongolia's Gobi Desert. He has been a finalist in the Australian Museum's Eureka prizes three times, won an Earth Journalism Award and featured in The Best Australian Science Writing in 2011, 2014 and 2015. John studied biology at Imperial College in the United Kingdom, and has a Master of Science in taxonomy and biodiversity from the Natural History Museum, London. Follow him on Twitter @john_pickrell and at www.flyingdinosaurs.net.
