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Title: TAKING WING: ARCHAEOPTERYX AND THE EVOLUTION OF BIRD FLIGHT by Pat Shipman ISBN: 0-684-84965-8 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 15 January, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.56 (9 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Details but a lack of structure
Comment: This book is rich in detail and a great study of the tactics taken by paleontolgists in proposing theories and testing those proposals by working with fossils and similar living creatures that may cast light on the theory. But inevitably, it seems, for every proposal and positive test result someone else will come up with another test for the same proposal and the results will be negative. In the end there are so many questions without firm answers that it becomes hard to know which, if any, or which combinations of these questions, would resolve the matter. It seems that Archaeopteryx had feathers (although there is discussion of those who thought the feather impressions were forgeries). It seems that it was a dinosaur (not a bird). But was it 'proaves' the precursor bird? Apparently the fossil record of primitive birds is too poor for us to know - I would have liked more details about these early fossil birds. Was Archaeopteryx warm blooded? Were any dinosaurs? Could Archaeopteryx fly or were the feathers merely for heat insulation? For me I would have liked more on 'pro-feather' - the precursor to feathers. At the very end of the book we learn of a find in 1996 in China of a dinosaur that did not have wings but appears to have feathers on its back and sides. Other flying creatures are discussed - pterosaurs, insects, bats (surprisingly from the fossil record quite recently evolved) and gliding mammals such a sugar gliders. There is also some aerodynamics in this book as researchers try to determine if Archaeopteryx could fly. The result of their aerodynamic studies? As always - uncertainty!
I am reviewing a paperback copy of this book published by Wiedenfeld and Nicolson. It's a handsome book but I cannot understand what possessed the publishers to put a pterosaur fossil on the front cover rather than Archaeopteryx. To be fair, they do point this out on the back cover which is how I finalised realised this - but who pays much attention to back cover blurbs?
Rating: 5
Summary: out-of-print?
Comment: This beautifully written and engaging book is still available in hardback at a surprisingly low price from Daedalus.com (at least when I last checked August 1, 2002).
Highly recommended for both its written style and content.
Rating: 4
Summary: Excellent study on bird's flight
Comment: high quality of work done by Shipman as seen so many in other comments & I also totally agree with it. The only shame is that she holds her interpretation on the theories "ground up" or "tree down". The right answer which could convince both sides, so far, can't be expected. Even so, I wish she had expressed her own opinion inspired through her labourious studies. The component & development of the text is simply excellent. That's why I feel something missed.
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Title: The Mistaken Extinction: Dinosaur Evolution and the Origin of Birds by Lowell Dingus, Timothy Rowe ISBN: 071672944X Publisher: W.H. Freeman & Company Pub. Date: 01 September, 1997 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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Title: The Dinosauria (Centennial Book) by David B. Weishampel, Peter Dodson, Halszka Osmolska ISBN: 0520067274 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 01 December, 1992 List Price(USD): $49.95 |
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Title: Feathered Dinosaurs by Christopher Sloan, Philip J., Dr Currie ISBN: 0792272196 Publisher: National Geographic Pub. Date: 01 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: The Rise of Birds: 225 Million Years of Evolution by Sankar Chatterjee ISBN: 0801856159 Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 1997 List Price(USD): $47.00 |
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Title: The Origin and Evolution of Birds by Alan Feduccia ISBN: 0300078617 Publisher: Yale University Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 1999 List Price(USD): $32.00 |
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