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This richly illustrated book clothes the skeletons of dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles with flesh, and shows how these fascinating animals evolved and probably lived. Expert author John L. Cloudsley-Thompson synthesizes current views on ecology, physiology and behaviour, and outlines the various hypotheses that have been proposed to explain their extinction. Numerous beautiful drawings of the animals and their environment illustrate this exciting monograph.
List of contents
1. Classification
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Amphibians
1.3 Reptiles
1.4 Note on Colouration
2. Diversification of Palaeozoic Reptiles
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Continental Drift
2.3 Reptilian Ancestors
2.4 Anapsid Reptiles
2.5 Synapsid Reptiles
3. The Mesozoic Environment
3.1 Introduction
3.2 The Triassic Period
3.3 The Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods
4. Amphibious Mesozoic Reptiles
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Locomotion
4.3 Testudines
4.4 Placodonts and Nothosaurs
4.5 Thalattosaurs, Mosasaurs and Other Sea Lizards
4.6 Champsosaurs, Phytosaurs and Crocodilians
5. Plesiosaurs and Ichthyosaurs
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Swimming
5.3 Plesiosaurs
5.4 Ichthyosaurs
6. Aerial Mesozoic Reptiles
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Gliding Reptiles
6.3 Pterosaur Flight
6.4 Locomotion on the Ground
6.5 Rhamphorynchoids
6.6 Pterodactyloids
6.7 Life styles
6.8 Extinction
6.9 Summary
7. Terrestrial Mesozoic Reptiles
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Quadrupedal Locomotion
7.3 Bipedal Locomotion
7.4 Weight and Size Limits
7.5 Physiology
7.6 Tachymetabolism
7.7 Brachymetabolic Thermoregulation
7.8 Hair and Feathers
7.9 Conclusions
8. Therapsids, Anapsids and Early Diapsids
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Therapsids and the Origin of Mammals
8.3 Anapsids
8.4 Early Diapsids
9. The Dinosaurs: Weapons, Display and Reproduction
9.1 The Earliest Dinosaurs
9.2 Dinosaur Weapons
9.3 Reproduction
10. Herbivorous Dinosaurs
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Teeth, Gastroliths and Digestion
10.3 Basal Sauropodomorphs Prosauropods
10.4 Sauropods
10.5 Herbivorous Bipeds
10.6 Horned, Plated and Armoured Dinosaurs
11. Carnivorous Dinosaurs
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Dentition
11.3 Ceratosaurs
11.4 Carnosaurs
11.5 The Origin of Birds
12. The Cretaceous Extinction
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Terminal Mesozoic Events
12.3 Dinosaur Extinction: Improbable Hypotheses
12.4 Catastrophic Hypotheses
12.5 Gradualist Hypotheses
12.6 Conclusion
Epilogue
Bibliography
Subject Index
Summary
Our knowledge of extinct animals depends almost entirely upon the study of fossils. This richly illustrated book clothes the skeletons of dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles with flesh, and shows how these fascinating animals evolved and probably lived. Expert author John L. Cloudsley-Thompson provides an interesting synthesis of current views on their ecology, physiology and behaviour, and outlines the various hypotheses that have been proposed to explain their extinction. Numerous beautiful drawings of the animals and their environment illustrate this exciting monograph.
Additional text
From the reviews:
"... This book offers a very reader-friendly introduction to the surprising detail that can be recovered from the fossil record. Zoologist John Cloudsley-Thompson outlines the reptilian lifesyles associated with marine, aerial and terrestrial environments, and looks at the different fossil groups that occupied them. .... his biological viewpoint and language will be welcomed by many. " (BBC Wildlife Magazine)
"This book offers a very reader-friendly introduction to the surprising detail that can be recovered from the fossil record. … The author, an expert in living amphibians and reptiles … . his biological viewpoint and language will be welcomed by many." (Douglas Palmer, BBC Wildlife Magazine, Vol. 23 (6), June, 2005)
