Feathered Dragons Studies on the Transition from Dinosaurs to Birds

Meat-eating theropod dinosaurs have been recognized as potential ancestors of birds since the 19th century, but it was not until the 1960s that work on Deinonychus revealed the startling similarities between dinosaurs and birds. With each new small theropod find the ties became stronger, until the discovery of Sinosauropteryx--a dinosaur with feathers! Though not all scientists accept the concept of birds' being phylogenetically nested within the Dinosauria, others are now focusing on the evolution of feathers and avian flight. This book presents 15 new pieces of research, including the first detailed description of Bambiraptor, a remarkable new specimen from Montana.

Contributors are Robert T. Bakker, David Burnham, Sankar Chatterjee, Luis M. Chiappe, James M. Clark, Philip J. Currie, Stephen J. Godfrey, Gerald Grellet-Turner, Thomas P. Hopp, Frankie K. Jackson, Peter J. Makovicky, Mark A. Norell, Fernando E. Novas, Mark J. Orsen, Gregory J. Retallack, Dale A. Russell, R. J. Templin, David J. Varricchio, Peter Wellnhofer, and Joanna L. Wright.

Philip J. Currie is Curator of Dinosaurs at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology.

Eva B. Koppelhus is a palynologist and Adjunct Research Scientist at the Royal Tyrrell Museum.

Martin A. Shugar, M.D., F.A.C.S., was director of the Florida Institute of Paleontology at the Graves Museum of Archaeology and Natural History.

Joanna L. Wright is Assistant Professor of Geology at the University of Colorado at Denver and Associate Director, CU-MWC Fossil Footprint Collection.

Contributors

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Dinosaurs Acting Like Birds, and Vice Versa - Robert T. Bakker

Section I. The Setting

1. The Dinosaurian Setting of Primitive Asian Birds - Dale A. Russell

2. End-Cretaceous Acid Rain as a Selective Extinction Mechanism Between Birds and Dinosaurs - Gregory J. Retallack

Section II. Osteology and Ichnology

3. New information on Bambiraptor feinbergi (Theropoda: Dromaeosauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Montana - David Burnham

4. A New Dromaeosaurid from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Alberta, Canada - Philip J. Currie and David J. Varricchio

5. The Braincase of Velociraptor - Mark A. Norell, Peter J. Makovicky and James M. Clark

6. A Theropod (Dromaeosauridae, Dinosauria) Sternal Plate from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Campanian, Upper Cretaceous) of Alberta, Canada - Stephen J. Godfrey and Philip J. Currie

7. Avian traits in the ilium of Unenlagia comahuensis (Maniraptora: Avialae) - Fernando E. Novas

8. Bird-Like Features of Dinosaur Footprints - Joanna L. Wright

Section III. Eggs, Nests, Feathers and Flight

9. Dinosaur Eggs and Nesting: Implications for Understanding the Origin of Birds - Gerald Grellet-Tinner and Luis M. Chiappe

10. Two Eggs Sunny-Side Up: Reproductive Physiology in the Dinosaur Troodon formosus- David J. Varricchio and Frankie K. Jackson

11. Dinosaur Brooding Behaviour and the Origin of Flight Feathers - Thomas P. Hopp and Mark J. Orsen

12. Feathered Coelurosaurs from China: New Light on the Arboreal Origin of Avian Flight - Sankar Chatterjee and R. J. Templin

13. The Plumage of Archaeopteryx - Feathers of a Dinosaur? - Peter Wellnhofer

14. Dinosaur Crime-Scene Investigations: Theropod Behavior at Como Bluff, Wyoming, and the Evolution of Birdness - Robert T. Bakker and Gary Bir

Index