Author: Kristina Curry Rogers
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Published: 2005-12-16
Total Pages: 360
ISBN-13: 0520246233
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →"This is the most comprehensive overview and analysis of sauropod dinosaurs ever written."—Jason Head, Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution
Author: Alejandro Otero
Publisher: Springer Nature
Published: 2022-04-25
Total Pages: 590
ISBN-13: 3030959597
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Sauropodomorpha Huene 1932 is one of the most successful groups of dinosaurs, including the most abundant and diverse herbivorous forms with a worldwide record, extending from the late Triassic to the late Cretaceous. Sauropodomorphs comprise a diverse assemblage of early forms (traditionally called “prosauropods”) and the well-established clade Sauropoda Marsh 1878. Early sauropodomorphs were small to medium sized forms, with long necks and reduced skulls, mostly bipeds and omnivores and were abundant in continental environments in the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. With more than 150 valid species and a worldwide distribution, Sauropoda includes the dominant herbivorous dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous. Its unique body plan, characterized by gigantic size, graviportal locomotion, long necks and tails, and reduced skulls, made this group an undisputed icon in popular culture since the 19th century. In South America, the sauropodomorph record is particularly rich and abundant, and many species have shed light to understand important milestones in the evolutionary history of this group of dinosaurs. The origin of Sauropodomorpha, the transition to Sauropoda, and the diversification of its most successful evolutionary lineages are largely exemplified by the South American fossil record. In this contribution, we synthetize the diversity of sauropodomorphs from South America, including data on their geographic and stratigraphic provenance, phylogenetics, paleobiology, taphonomy and behaviour, underscoring their significance within the context of sauropodomorph evolution.
Author: Kenneth Carpenter
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1992-07-31
Total Pages: 360
ISBN-13: 9780521438100
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →In recent years dinosaurs have captured the attention of the public at an unprecedented scale. At the heart of this resurgence in popular interest is an increased level of research activity, much of which is innovative in the field of palaeontology. For instance, whereas earlier palaeontological studies emphasized basic morphologic description and taxonomic classification, modern studies attempt to examine the role and nature of dinosaurs as living animals. More than ever before, we understand how these extinct species functioned, behaved, interacted with each other and the environment, and evolved. Nevertheless, these studies rely on certain basic building blocks of knowledge, including facts about dinosaur anatomy and taxonomic relationships. One of the purposes of this volume is to unravel some of the problems surrounding dinosaur systematics and to increase our understanding of dinosaurs as a biological species. Dinosaur Systematics presents a current overview of dinosaur systematics using various examples to explore what is a species in a dinosaur, what separates genders in dinosaurs, what morphological changes occur with maturation of a species, and what morphological variations occur within a species.
Author: Nichole Klein
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 2011-04-22
Total Pages: 369
ISBN-13: 0253013550
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Sauropods, those huge plant-eating dinosaurs, possessed bodies that seem to defy every natural law. What were these creatures like as living animals and how could they reach such uniquely gigantic sizes? A dedicated group of researchers in Germany in disciplines ranging from engineering and materials science to animal nutrition and paleontology went in search of the answers to these questions. Biology of the Sauropod Dinosaurs reports on the latest results from this seemingly disparate group of research fields and integrates them into a coherent theory regarding sauropod gigantism. Covering nutrition, physiology, growth, and skeletal structure and body plans, this volume presents the most up-to-date knowledge about the biology of these enormous dinosaurs.
Author: John Foster
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 2020-10-20
Total Pages: 531
ISBN-13: 0253051606
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →The famous bone beds of the Morrison Formation, formed one hundred and fifty million years ago and running from Wyoming down through the red rock region of the American Southwest, have yielded one of the most complete pictures of any ancient vertebrate ecosystem in the world. Jurassic West, Second Edition tells the story of the life of this ancient world as scientists have so far been able to reconstruct it. Aimed at the general reader, Jurassic West, Second Edition recounts the discovery of many important Late Jurassic dinosaurs such as Apatosaurus, Allosaurus, and Stegosaurus. But dinosaurs compose barely a third of the more than 90 types of vertebrates known from the formation, which include crocodiles and turtles, frogs and salamanders, dinosaurs and mammals, clams and snails, and ginkgoes, ferns, and conifers. Featuring nearly all new illustrations, the second edition of this classic work includes new taxa named since 2007, updates to the naming and classifications of some old taxa, and expanded sections on numerous aspects of Morrison Formation paleontology and geology.
Author: Haruo Saegusa
Publisher:
Published: 2014
Total Pages: 66
ISBN-13: 9781775574668
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →A new genus and species of titanosauriform sauropod is erected based on a partial skeleton found in the Lower Cretaceous Sasayama Group of Hyogo Prefecture, SW Japan. The new taxon is here named as Tambatitanis amicitiae gen. et sp. nov., which is diagnosed by the following features of the caudal vertebrae, chevrons and braincase: the postzygapophysis and the summit of the neural spine of the anterior caudal vertebrae are located beyond the posterior border of the centrum, the spine of the anterior caudal vertebrae is curved strongly anteriorly and bow-shaped in lateral view, the summit of the neural spine is expanded and hemispherical with its anterior face excavated by the posterodorsal extension of a deep and narrow SPRF, the transverse process of the anterior caudal vertebrae are short and L shaped, the anterior chevron is the longest among sauropods in proportion to body size, the distal ends of the anterior chevrons are rod-shaped, the distal ends of the mid chevrons are transversely thin and anteroposteriorly long without cranial processes, and the dorsal border of the shaft of the paroccipital process that forms the ventral margin of the posttemporal fenestra is short mediolaterally and V-shaped in posterior view. A phylogenetic analysis suggests that T. amicitiae is a basal titanosauriform, possibly belonging to the East Asian endemic clade Euhelopodidae. The caudals and chevrons are described in detail in order to document highly autapomorphic features of the new taxon as well as potentially phylogenetically informative characters. The discovery of T. amicitiae suggests that East Asian basal titanosauriforms were diverse not only in the number of the taxa but also in the morphological variation of the caudal elements.
Author: Thom Holmes
Publisher: Infobase Publishing
Published: 2008
Total Pages: 233
ISBN-13: 1438118473
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Examines the dinosaurs that lived during the Cretaceous period and the climatic and geologic changes that brought about their extinction.