This monumental book is a comprehensive and profusely illustrated exploration of all that is known about the origin of birds and of avian flight. Alan Feduccia, a leading ornithologist and evolutionary biologist, draws on fossil evidence and studies of the structure and biochemistry of living birds to present current knowledge and fresh data on avian evolution and to propose a major new model of this evolutionary process.

The Origin and Evolution of Birds

Science & Math

Feduccia, Alan

Biological Sciences

Yale University Press

Examining and interpreting recent spectacular fossil discoveries in China, paleontologists have arrived at a prevailing view: there is now incontrovertible evidence that birds represent the last living dinosaur. But is this conclusion beyond dispute? In this book, evolutionary biologist Alan Feduccia provides the most comprehensive discussion yet of the avian and associated evidence found in China, then exposes the massive, unfounded speculation that has accompanied these discoveries and been published in the pages of prestigious scientific journals.
Advocates of the current orthodoxy on bird origins have ignored contrary data, misinterpreted fossils, and used faulty reasoning, the author argues. He considers why and how the debate has become so polemical and makes a plea to refocus the discussion by “breaking away from methodological straitjackets and viewing the world of origins anew.” Drawing on a lifetime of study, he offers his own current understanding of the origin of birds and avian flight.

Riddle of the Feathered Dragons: Hidden Birds of China

This updated, streamlined, generously illustrated Fifth Edition of the classic text combines comparative vertebrate anatomy and embryology into one easy reference source. Provides an overview of vertebrate evolution, a preview of vertebrate embryology, six chapters on vertebrate development, and then goes through each organ system from both a morphogenesis and comparative anatomy standpoint. Also includes extensive discussions of vertebrate evolution, a large section on developmental preliminaries, an extensive glossary and a new bibliography.

Torrey's Morphogenesis of the Vertebrates

McCrady, Edward

wiley

An authoritative examination of the evolution of birds analyzes avian anatomy from an aerodynamic perspective, recounts successful and unsuccessful evolutionary adaptations, and discusses the background and meaning of many fossil discoveries

The Age of Birds

Harvard University Press

Birds of Colonial Williamsburg: A Historical Portfolio

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Antiques & Collectibles

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Evolutionary Trends in the Neotropical Ovenbirds and Woodhewers (OM13) (No 13)

AmerIcan Ornithologists' Union

"Birds and dinosaurs have dominated human interest for decades. In this well-supported revolutionary view of the field, critical questions are explored with credible evidence and biological thought. Are birds derived directly from advanced dinosaurs, or are they closely related dinosaur cousins? Did flight originate via the natural "gravity-assisted" trees-down model, or from the improbable "gravity-resisted" ground-up model? Were the earliest birds ground-predators or trunk-climbing gliders? Were dinosaurs hot-blooded with insulating protofeathers, or highly active, cold-blooded reptiles? These are among the questions addressed in this revolutionary book. Current consensus suggests that early birds were earth-bound and flight began on the ground. Reversing that logic, since birds are hot-blooded, by inference so too were dinosaurs, and extraordinarily complex feathers, flight brain and inner ear, evolved before flight in dinosaurs. The iconic early bird Archaeopteryx, despite innumerable flight and arboreal features, is now displayed as an earth-bound predator that could not fly. In reality, we have yet to provide satisfactory explanations for much of the biological origin and early evolution of birds. Among the questions addressed is whether truly feathered dinosaurs are in reality lost or "hidden birds?" The architectural complexity of feathers leads the author to the conclusion that if an animal has evolved extraordinarily complex, aerodynamically-designed feathers, an avian flight hand, flight membranes, and a flight brain, its a bird. Birds and dinosaurs captivate and enchant the human imagination. These intriguing animals have dominated the field of paleontology and evolution for the past half century, engendering heated debate on avian ancestry, the origin of flight and feathers, and the biology of their fossils. Are birds living dinosaurs? In this series of entertainingly contentious and captivating essays evolutionary biologist Alan Feduccia writes with verve and humor to expose major problems in the field and advocate liberation from the shackles of consensus thinking about birds and dinosaurs. He maintains that the euphoria of paleontologists claiming to have solved the major problems of bird evolution is premature, largely generated by the adoption of a rigid, cult-like methodology, heavily blended with ideology, and excluding many biological and geological principles. He adroitly exposes and elucidates major mistakes in the field and their aftermath. Romancing the Birds and Dinosaurs is a lucid revelation of clarity and synthesis, a fascinating unveiling of the underlying science that has produced the good, but also often appalling fossil research and wild speculation in bird and dinosaur evolution. A must read for anyone interested in this rapidly evolving field, the short, concise and incisive essays provide the reader with access to this complex topic"--

Romancing the Birds and Dinosaurs: Forays in Postmodern Paleontology

Brown Walker Press

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Books by Feduccia, Alan