This beautifully illustrated 2007 volume describes the flora and fauna of the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil, one of the world's most important fossil deposits, exhibiting exceptional preservation. Covering a wide range of invertebrates, vertebrates and plants, it is an essential reference for researchers and enthusiasts interested in Mesozoic fossils.
This beautifully illustrated exploration of the diversity, anatomy, and evolution of dinosaur feeding adaptations is the first and only in-depth look at this crucial aspect of paleoecology. In An Illustrated Guide to Dinosaur Feeding Biology, experts Ali Nabavizadeh and David B. Weishampel bring dinosaurs to life on the page by exploring and illustrating their feeding adaptations. Whether dinosaurs were carnivorous, herbivorous, or omnivorous, their evolution produced a multitude of specialized adaptations that helped shape their ecologies. Dinosaur skulls show a variety of bone and joint specializations ideal for withstanding stresses and strains induced by high bite forces with strong jaw musculature. The bladed, steak-knife dentition of many carnivorous dinosaurs was well-suited for slicing meat and crushing bones, while the leaf-shaped, sometimes tightly packed dentition of many herbivorous dinosaurs was ideal for grinding up a variety of plant material. The first book of its kind, An Illustrated Guide to Dinosaur Feeding Biology is a synthesis of over a century of dinosaur feeding biology research, from the earliest hypotheses in the 1800s to today's studies using advanced techniques. Intended for both researchers and dinosaur enthusiasts alike, this book discusses functional morphological studies highlighting comparative anatomy, tooth wear, muscle reconstruction, and biomechanical analysis using modeling techniques like finite element analysis and multibody dynamics analysis. In addition to the feeding apparatus, Nabavizadeh and Weishampel explore postcranial adaptations and discuss the evolution of dinosaurs and their paleoecology more broadly. Integrating these various factors improves our understanding of dinosaurs as the living beings they were in their ecosystems millions of years ago and ultimately expands our knowledge and perspective of today's ecosystems by framing them in a broader evolutionary context.
This book provides a generally accessible introduction to what is known about dinosaur behavior, including how scientists even study dinosaur behavior to begin with"--
With her repulsive face and head full of living, venomous snakes, Medusa is petrifying—quite literally, since looking directly at her turned people to stone. Ever since Perseus cut off her head and presented it to Athena, she has been a woman of many forms: a dangerous female monster that had to be destroyed, an erotic power that could annihilate men, and, thanks to Freud, a woman whose hair was a nest of terrifying penises that signaled castration. She has been immortalized by artists from Leonardo da Vinci to Salvador Dalí and was the emblem of the Jacobins after the French Revolution. Today, she’s viewed by feminists as a noble victim of patriarchy and used by Versace in the designer’s logo for men’s underwear, haute couture, and exotic dinnerware. She even gives her name to a sushi roll on a Disney resort menu. Why does Medusa continue to have this power to transfix us? David Leeming seeks to answer this question in Medusa, a biography of the mythical creature. Searching for the origins of Medusa’s myth in cultures that predate ancient Greece, Leeming explores how and why the mythical figure of the gorgon has become one of the most important and enduring ideas in human history. From an oil painting by Caravaggio to Clash of the Titans and Dungeons and Dragons, he delves into the many depictions of Medusa, ultimately revealing that her story is a cultural dream that continues to change and develop with each new era. Asking what the evolution of the Medusa myth discloses about our culture and ourselves, this book paints an illuminating portrait of a woman who has never ceased to enthrall.
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