Product Description

What do we know about how dinosaurs reproduced, gave birth, cared for their young? What do we know about dinosaur eggs, hatchlings, and baby dinosaurs? Here is the latest information, presented with clarity and wit, about the reproductive lives of dinosaurs. Studying dinosaur reproduction might seem impossible considering they became extinct 65 million years ago, yet scientists have figured out some things about dinosaur mating behaviour and reproduction from the clues left in the fossil record. For example, the microscopic structure of the egg shell tells us something about the way the egg was made, the pattern of eggs in a clutch tells us about how the eggs were laid, embryos and hatchlings tell us about early development, and ornamental structures of the adults tell us something about mating rituals. The behaviour of living animals provides analogues to understanding the behaviour of extinct animals, giving insight into possible ways dinosaurs might have behaved. Carpenter begins with the story of the discovery of dinosaur eggs, explains the processes by which they are fossilised, and describes how they are studied. He presents a detailed discussion of the most current ideas about dinosaur courtship and mating, about nests and nesting behaviour, and about the growth of the dinosaur from embryo to hatchling to young animal. There is also an extensive list of sites where dinosaur eggs and babies have been found.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #734325 in Books
• Published on: 2000-01
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 2.10 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

From Library Journal
Carpenter, who is affiliated with the Denver Museum of Natural History, previously edited a collection of scholarly papers on this same topic (Dinosaur Eggs and Babies, Cambridge Univ., 1994). This time he has a little fun--or at least what scientists would consider fun--with his subject: he indulges in fanciful speculation about dinosaur courtship, sexual behavior, nesting, egg laying, and infancy. "Face it," he writes in Chapter 5, "having gotten this far, you want to know how a pair of three-ton Stegosaurus did it--probably like porcupines: very carefully." Drawing from what we know about the mating and reproductive behavior of living birds and reptiles, from detailed knowledge of the physiology and development of eggs, and from slim fossil evidence, he imagines the sex lives of dinosaurs. Thorough illustrations range from hypothetical dinosaur courtship dances to detailed scientific diagrams of how eggshells form. Admittedly, most of his speculations cannot be verified. Still, this is a brilliant combination of imagination and science--and one of the best popular science books of the year. For public and academic libraries. [This is the first title in a new series, "Life of the Past," from Indiana University Press.--Ed.]--Amy Brunvand, Univ. of Utah Lib., Salt Lake Cit.
---Amy Brunvand, Univ. of Utah Lib., Salt Lake City
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Overall, a fine addition to libraries serving the public." --;/P>--D. Bardack, University of Illinois at Chicago"Choice" (01/01/2000)

About the Author
Kenneth Carpenter is an authority on dinosaurs and Mesozoic marine reptiles and is affiliated with the Denver Museum of Natural History. He has edited important collections of papers dealing with dinosaurs, including Dinosaur Systematics: Approaches and Perspectives (with Philip J. Currie).