This unique book portrays dinosaurs as paleontologists see them. It is the only comprehensive text that takes an explicitly phylogenetic (evolutionary relationship) approach to this group. The authors also stress the geological context of dinosaurs, and present them in the framework of contemporary plate tectonic and climatic settings. Beyond this, they cover topics of interest in dinosaur paleobiology: hot-blooded dinosaurs, aspects of dinosaur functional morphology, and the relationships of dinosaurs to birds. All of the discussion occurs in lively and accessible language, and the book is lavishly illustrated by specially commissioned line drawings and color plates that show dinosaurs in a variety of natural settings. This is a comprehensive treatment of dinosaurs designed for use mainly as a textbook for students in first- or second-year-level college courses, although nonspecialists are also sure to find the book of great interest.

Preface
1 Introduction
2 The Mesozoic Era: Back to the Past
3 Discovering Order in the Natural World
4 Interrelationships of the Vertebrates
5 The Origin of Dinosauria
6 Stegosauria: Hot Plates
7 Ankylosauria: Mass and Gas
8 Pachycephalosauria: Head-to-Head, With Malice Aforethought
9 Ceratopsia: Horns, Frills, and Slice-and-Dice
10 Ornithopoda: The Tuskers, Antelopes, and the Mighty Ducks of the Mesozoic
11 Sauropodomorpha: The Big, the Bizarre, and the Majestic
12 Theropoda I: Nature Red in Tooth and Claw
13 Theropoda II: The Origin of Birds
14 Dinosaur Endothermy: Some Like It Hot
15 Dinosaurs in Space and Time
16 Reconstructing Extinctions: The Art of Science
17 The Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction: The Frill is Gone
Color Plates
Glossary
Subject Index
Taxonomic Index of Genera
Author Index