On the Origin of Birds: a journey through time

This journey through time sequentially outlines the evolution of ancestral vertebrates in the Devonian, and, after moving onto land, the crucial physical improvements gained that eventually produced dinosaurs of the Triassic and archaic birds of the Cretaceous, with exciting new finds from China. Key connecting fossils for each stage are reconstructed in life-like illustrations. Environmental conditions, plants and their influences are explored and relevant cladograms (family trees) provided. A description of living birds follows, highlighting morphological and genetic relationships of modern orders and adaptations for chosen lifestyles. Final chapters cover the origin of the now predominant Passeriformes in Antarctica, their repeated waves of colonization reaching worldwide and the core lineages still surviving in Australia today. 140pp, 70 watercolours, many full page. Designed to provide a visually enjoyable and easy-to-read but in-depth overview of avian history.