Dyke / Kaiser Living Dinosaurs

The Evolutionary History of Modern Birds
1. Auflage 2011
ISBN: 978-1-119-99045-1
Verlag: John Wiley & Sons
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 440 Seiten, E-Book

Living Dinosaurs offers a snapshot of our current understanding of the origin and evolution of birds. After slumbering for more than a century, avian palaeontology has been awakened by startling new discoveries on almost every continent. Controversies about whether dinosaurs had real feathers or whether birds were related to dinosaurs have been swept away and replaced by new and more difficult questions: How old is the avian lineage? How did birds learn to fly? Which birds survived the great extinction that ended the Mesozoic Era and how did the avian genome evolve? Answers to these questions may help us understand how the different kinds of living birds are related to one another and how they evolved into their current niches. More importantly, they may help us understand what we need to do to help them survive the dramatic impacts of human activity on the planet.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Dyke, Gareth

Kaiser, Gary

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Foreword.
List of Contributors.
Preface.
Part 1 Introduction: the Deep Evolutionary History of ModernBirds.
Introduction: Changing the Questions in Avian Paleontology(Gary Kaiser and Gareth Dyke).
1 Theropod Diversity and the Refinement of Avian Characteristics(Peter J. Makovicky and Lindsay E. Zanno).
2 Why Were There Dinosaurs? Why Are There Birds? (Peter Wardand Robert Berner).
3 Pre-modern Birds: Avian Divergences in the Mesozoic(Jingmai O'Connor, Luis M. Chiappe, and Alyssa Bell).
Part 2 "The Contribution of Paleontology to Ornithology": theDiversity of Modern Birds: Fossils and the Avian Tree ofLife.
4 Progress and Obstacles in the Phylogenetics of Modern Birds(Bradley C. Livezey).
5 The Utility of Fossil Taxa and the Evolution of Modern Birds:Commentary and Analysis (Gareth Dyke and Eoin Gardiner).
6 Penguins Past, Present, and Future: Trends in the Evolution ofthe Sphenisciformes (Daniel T. Ksepka and Tatsuro Ando).
7 Phorusrhacids: the Terror Birds (Herculano Alvarenga, LuisChiappe, and Sara Bertelli).
8 The Pseudo-toothed Birds (Aves, Odontopterygiformes) and theirBearing on the Early Evolution of Modern Birds (EstelleBourdon).
9 Phylogeny and Diversification of Modern Passerines (F.Keith Barker).
Part 3 The Evolution of Key Avian Attributes.
10 Morphological and Behavioral Correlates of Flapping Flight(Bret W. Tobalske, Douglas R. Warrick, Brandon E. Jackson, andKenneth P. Dial).
11 Evolution of the Avian Brain and Senses (Stig Walsh andAngela Milner).
12 Evolving Perceptions on the Antiquity of the Modern AvianTree (Joseph W. Brown and M. Van Tuinen).
13 Major Events in Avian Genome Evolution (Chris L. Organ andScott V. Edwards).
14 Bird Evolution Across the K-Pg Boundary and the BasalNeornithine Diversification (Bent E. K. Lindow).
15 Functional and Phylogenetic Diversity in Marine and AquaticBirds (Gary Kaiser).
Part 4 The Future: Conservation and Climate Change.
16 The State of the World's Birds and the Future of AvianDiversity (Gavin H. Thomas).
Glossary.
Index.
Colour plates.

Über Autor(innen)

Gareth Dyke is a vertebrate palaeontologist who specialiseson the evolution of birds and their flight. He has worked on birdsof all ages, from the 140 million years old Archaeopteryxright through to the bones of living ducks and gamebirds. He hassearched for fossils all over the world, but has a particularinterest in the geology and palaeontology of Eastern Europe. He hasworked in Ireland since 2002.
Gary Kaiser worked as a field biologist in Canada'smigratory bird program from 1968 until retirement in 1999. Hespecialized in the capture and tagging of birds, particularlyseabirds but began to study avian evolution in 1995. He combinedthis new interest with knowleddge gained from handling birds towrite Inner Bird in 2007. He has also contributed toBirds of British Columbia and Seabirds of the Russian FarEast.