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.
Classification.- Diversification of Palaeozoic Reptiles.- The Mesozoic Environment.- Amphibious and Early Marine Mesozoic Reptiles.- Plesiosaurs and Ichthyosaurs.- Aerial Mesozoic Reptiles.- Terrestrial Mesozoic Reptiles: Size, Locomotion and Thermal Physiology.- Therapsids, Anapsids and Early Diapsids.- The Dinosaurs: Weapons, Display and Reproduction.- Herbivorous Dinosaurs.- Carnivorous Dinosaurs.- The Cretaceous Extinction.
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)
