The Flying Dinosaurs: The Illustrated Guide to the Evolution of Flight [Paperback]

Philip J. Currie (Author), Jan Sovak (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

The only book available that examines one of the great mysteries of evolution-the origins of flight in the animal kingdom and the controversial link between dinosaurs and birds. Did the great reptiles die out 65 million years ago, or were they well on their way to evolving into the creatures we know as birds? World-renowned paleontologist Philip J. Currie examines the evidence and arrives at some startling conclusions. Features some of the most bizarre species of birds to have ever evolved, including giant flyers with 24-foot wingspans and ground-dwellers weighing over 400 pounds. The author, recognized as the worldís leading expert on predatory dinosaurs, has been featured numerous times in television series such as PBS's Nova and in Walter Cronkite's Dinosaurs.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Philip J. Currie is a Red Deer Press author.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Red Deer Press; 1 edition (September 10, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0889950784
• ISBN-13: 978-0889950788
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 8.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,542,862 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid portrayal of dino/bird story & great illustrations, January 22, 1999

By 

Dennis Noson ([e-mail]) (Seattle, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Flying Dinosaurs: The Illustrated Guide to the Evolution of Flight (Paperback)

I purchased this book in the badlands of Alberta, where Phil Currie works, and was immediately inspired by his arguments for the connections between several lineages of dinosaurs and the evolution of birds. Following the introductory text, in one spectacular portrait after another, is a wonderful exhibition of the great variety of mesozoic bird fossils, reconstructed by illustrator Jan Sovak. The book is a bargain for the color reproductions alone, with the cogent writing of Dr. Currie adding the flesh and bone commentary on the fossil record.

The first half of the book develops a picture of the characteristics of flying animals, and, in particular, flying reptiles (pterosaurs), taking their story into full profusion of types and habitats. Over a dozen species are put into the spotlight, accompanied by Sovak's dramatic and vivid full-page illustrations for each species. After a brief review of the branching of dinosaur families, using the up-to-date cladistic approach, the full panoply of fossil birds is set forth in the last half of the book. The familiar one is here, Archaeopteryx, but then so many more, toothed and toothless, winged and flightless. The examples of early diving birds, from 80 million years ago in Kansas, with teeth in their beaks, are a startling reminder of how old the cormorant really is. The story ends with examples of more recent fossil birds, moa or less, and their life styles, including a "living fossil", the hoatzin, whose young have claws on the leading edge of their wings, like the feathered Archaeopteryx of 100 million years before.

The connection between birds and specific dinosaur families is well-presented, but the level of controversy is played down. More recent debate, for example in Audubon magazine, March 1997, is better balanced but also shows even more solid bird/dino evidence. Currie's Flying Dinosaurs now looks like it was 10 years ahead of its time.

I have two heroes in paleontology: Jack Horner in Montana and Phil Currie, just north of the border, in Alberta. Both are active in the here and now, and both dwell in the Cretaceous. For the lives of dinosaurs and their geologic setting, read Horner's Digging Dinosaurs, and for a complete and concise setting for the origin of birds, read this book, The Flying Dinosaurs. And don't forget to admire the imaginative illustrations.