Dinosaurs: A Very Short Introduction Animals Pets

193 Pages·2005·3.93 MB·English

by  David Norman (Author)

Dinosaurs: A Very Short Introduction
David Norman
DINOSAURS
A Very Short Introduction
1
3
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,
and education by publishing worldwide in
Oxford New York
AucklandCape Town Dar es SalaamHong Kong Karachi
Kuala LumpurMadridMelbourneMexico CityNairobi
New DelhiShanghaiTaipeiToronto
With offices in
ArgentinaAustriaBrazilChileCzech RepublicFranceGreece
GuatemalaHungaryItalyJapanPoland PortugalSingapore
South KoreaSwitzerland ThailandTurkeyUkraineVietnam
Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press
in the UK and in certain other countries
Published in the United States
by Oxford University Press Inc., New York
© David Norman 2005
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
Database right Oxford University Press (maker)
First published as a Very Short Introduction 2005
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press,
or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate
reprographics rights organizations. Enquiries concerning reproduction
outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department,
Oxford University Press, at the address above
You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Data available
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Data available
ISBN 0–19–280419–7
13579108642
Typeset by RefineCatch Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk
Printed in Great Britain by
TJ International Ltd., Padstow, Cornwall
Very Short Introductions are for anyone wanting a stimulating
and accessible way in to a new subject. They are written by experts, and have
been published in more than 25 languages worldwide.
The series began in 1995, and now represents a wide variety of topics
in history, philosophy, religion, science, and the humanities. Over the next
few years it will grow to a library of around 200 volumes – a Very Short
Introduction to everything from ancient Egypt and Indian philosophy to
conceptual art and cosmology.
Very Short Introductions available now:
ANARCHISM Colin Ward CLASSICS Mary Beard and
ANCIENT EGYPT Ian Shaw John Henderson
ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY CLAUSEWITZ Michael Howard
Julia Annas THE COLD WAR Robert McMahon
ANCIENT WARFARE CONSCIOUSNESS
Harry Sidebottom Susan Blackmore
THE ANGLO-SAXON AGE Continental Philosophy
John Blair Simon Critchley
ANIMAL RIGHTS David DeGrazia COSMOLOGY Peter Coles
ARCHAEOLOGY Paul Bahn CRYPTOGRAPHY
ARCHITECTURE Fred Piper and Sean Murphy
Andrew Ballantyne DADA AND SURREALISM
ARISTOTLE Jonathan Barnes David Hopkins
ART HISTORY Dana Arnold Darwin Jonathan Howard
ART THEORY Cynthia Freeland Democracy Bernard Crick
THE HISTORY OF DESCARTES Tom Sorell
ASTRONOMY Michael Hoskin DESIGN John Heskett
Atheism Julian Baggini DINOSAURS David Norman
Augustine Henry Chadwick DREAMING J. Allan Hobson
BARTHES Jonathan Culler DRUGS Leslie Iversen
THE BIBLE John Riches THE EARTH Martin Redfern
BRITISH POLITICS Anthony Wright EGYPTIAN MYTH Geraldine Pinch
Buddha Michael Carrithers EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
BUDDHISM Damien Keown BRITAIN Paul Langford
BUDDHIST ETHICS Damien Keown THE ELEMENTS Philip Ball
CAPITALISM James Fulcher EMOTION Dylan Evans
THE CELTS Barry Cunliffe EMPIRE Stephen Howe
CHOICE THEORY ENGELS Terrell Carver
Michael Allingham Ethics Simon Blackburn
CHRISTIAN ART Beth Williamson The European Union
CHRISTIANITY Linda Woodhead John Pinder
EVOLUTION MEDICAL ETHICS Tony Hope
Brian and Deborah Charlesworth MEDIEVAL BRITAIN
FASCISM Kevin Passmore John Gillingham and Ralph A. Griffiths
FOUCAULT Gary Gutting MODERN ART David Cottington
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION MODERN IRELAND Senia Pasˇeta
William Doyle MOLECULES Philip Ball
FREE WILL Thomas Pink MUSIC Nicholas Cook
Freud Anthony Storr Myth Robert A. Segal
Galileo Stillman Drake NIETZSCHE Michael Tanner
Gandhi Bhikhu Parekh NINETEENTH-CENTURY
GLOBALIZATION Manfred Steger BRITAIN Christopher Harvie and
GLOBAL WARMING Mark Maslin H. C. G. Matthew
HABERMAS NORTHERN IRELAND
James Gordon Finlayson Marc Mulholland
HEGEL Peter Singer PARTICLE PHYSICS Frank Close
HEIDEGGER Michael Inwood paul E. P. Sanders
HIEROGLYPHS Penelope Wilson Philosophy Edward Craig
HINDUISM Kim Knott PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
HISTORY John H. Arnold Samir Okasha
THE HISTORY OF TIME PLATO Julia Annas
Leofranc Holford-Strevens POLITICS Kenneth Minogue
HOBBES Richard Tuck POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
HUME A. J. Ayer David Miller
IDEOLOGY Michael Freeden POSTCOLONIALISM
Indian Philosophy Robert Young
Sue Hamilton POSTMODERNISM
Intelligence Ian J. Deary Christopher Butler
ISLAM Malise Ruthven POSTSTRUCTURALISM
JUDAISM Norman Solomon Catherine Belsey
Jung Anthony Stevens PREHISTORY Chris Gosden
KAFKA Ritchie Robertson PRESOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY
KANT Roger Scruton Catherine Osborne
KIERKEGAARD Patrick Gardiner Psychology Gillian Butler and
THE KORAN Michael Cook Freda McManus
LINGUISTICS Peter Matthews QUANTUM THEORY
LITERARY THEORY Jonathan Culler John Polkinghorne
LOCKE John Dunn RENAISSANCE ART
LOGIC Graham Priest Geraldine A. Johnson
MACHIAVELLI Quentin Skinner ROMAN BRITAIN Peter Salway
THE MARQUIS DE SADE ROUSSEAU Robert Wokler
John Phillips RUSSELL A. C. Grayling
MARX Peter Singer RUSSIAN LITERATURE
MATHEMATICS Timothy Gowers Catriona Kelly
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR
S. A. Smith Helen Graham
SCHIZOPHRENIA SPINOZA Roger Scruton
Chris Frith and Eve Johnstone STUART BRITAIN John Morrill
SCHOPENHAUER TERRORISM Charles Townshend
Christopher Janaway THEOLOGY David F. Ford
SHAKESPEARE TRAGEDY Adrian Poole
Germaine Greer THE TUDORS John Guy
SIKHISM Eleanor Nesbitt TWENTIETH-CENTURY
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL BRITAIN Kenneth O. Morgan
ANTHROPOLOGY Wittgenstein A. C. Grayling
John Monaghan and Peter Just WORLD MUSIC Philip Bohlman
SOCIALISM Michael Newman THE WORLD TRADE
SOCIOLOGY Steve Bruce ORGANIZATION
Socrates C. C. W. Taylor Amrita Narlikar
Available soon:
AFRICAN HISTORY FUNDAMENTALISM
John Parker and Richard Rathbone Malise Ruthven
THE BRAIN Michael O’Shea HUMAN EVOLUTION
CHAOS Leonard Smith Bernard Wood
CITIZENSHIP Richard Bellamy INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE Paul Wilkinson
Robert Tavernor JAZZ Brian Morton
CONTEMPORARY ART JOURNALISM Ian Hargreaves
Julian Stallabrass MANDELA Tom Lodge
THE CRUSADES THE MIND Martin Davies
Christopher Tyerman NATIONALISM Steven Grosby
THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS PERCEPTION Richard Gregory
Timothy Lim PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
Derrida Simon Glendinning Jack Copeland and
ECONOMICS Partha Dasgupta Diane Proudfoot
THE END OF THE WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY
Bill McGuire Steve Edwards
EXISTENTIALISM RACISM Ali Rattansi
Thomas Flynn THE RAJ Denis Judd
FEMINISM Margaret Walters THE RENAISSANCE Jerry Brotton
THE FIRST WORLD WAR ROMAN EMPIRE Christopher Kelly
Michael Howard SARTRE Christina Howells
FOSSILS Keith Thomson THE VIKINGS Julian Richards
For more information visit our web site
www.oup.co.uk/vsi/
Contents
List of illustrations ix
Introduction 1
1
Dinosaurs in perspective 10
2
Dinosaur renaissance 44
3
New light on Iguanodon 55
4
Unravelling the genealogy of dinosaurs 85
5
Dinosaurs and warm blood 106
6
What if ... birds are dinosaurs? 122
7
Dinosaur research: observation and deduction 133
8
The future of research on the past 160
Further reading 167
Index 169
This page intentionally left blank
List of illustrations
1 Professor Richard 6 First Iguanodon
Owen 2 bone ever collected 20
The Wellcome Library, © The Natural History Museum,
London London
2 Crystal Palace dinosaurs, 7 Iguanodon tooth 23
drawing and photo 4 © The Natural History
Photo © David Norman Museum, London
3 Comparison of Griffin 8 ‘Mantel-piece’
and Protoceratops 6 skeleton 25
From Adrienne Mayor, © David Norman
The First Fossil Hunters
(Princeton University 9 Mantell’s sketch
Press, 2000). Drawings by reconstructing
Ed Heck
Iguanodon 26
© The Natural History Museum,
4 Geological timescale 12
London
From David Norman, Dinosaur!
(Boxtree, 1991)
10 Owen’s reconstruction
of Megalosaurus 27
5 Herrerasaurus 15
© The Natural History Museum,
© John Sibbick
London
11 Louis Dollo 31
Royal Belgian Institute of
Natural Sciences, Brussels