Transylvanian dinosaurs / David B. Weishampel and Coralia-Maria Jianu.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Weishampel, David B., 1952-

Contributor:

Jianu, Coralia-Maria.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dinosaurs--Romania--Transylvania.

Dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs--Evolution.

Romania--Transylvania.

Physical Description:

xiv, 301 pages : illustrations (some color), maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011.

Summary:

This is a study of the fairly unique dinosaurs and other prehistoric flora and fauna of the region of Romania at one time known as Transylvania, where evolutionary pressures created tiny versions of otherwise giant dinosaurs. It follows field research done by David Weishampel, a paleontologist and now professor of functional anatomy at Johns Hopkins U., and Coralia-Maria Jianu, former paleontological museum curator. They also reflect on Franz Baron Nopcsa's contribution to Transylvanian paleontology and use their findings to advance some interesting ideas about contingency and heterochrony in evolution, themes they explicitly tie to Stephen Jay Gould's Ontogeny and Phylogeny. While not written for a very general audience, their style is clear and, also in the spirit of Gould, peppered with literary and historical allusions. The detailed glossary in the back offers non-specialist readers some support. An extensive bibliography and notes will be attractive for students doing or developing research. The study includes many black and white renditions of ancient creatures, topographical graphics, phylogenetic and cladistic diagrams, and color plates. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

Bringing it all back home

Dinosauria of Transylvania

Pterosaurs, crocs, and mammals, oh my

Living on the edge

Little giants and big dwarfs

Living fossils and their ghosts : being a short interlude on coelacanths and Transylvanian ornithopods

Transylvania, the land of contingency

Alice and the end.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781421400273

1421400278

OCLC:

692084743