Unearthing the Dragon
Unearthing the Dragonis the first book to establish the dramatic change in our understanding of dinosaur origins, based on the new fossil discoveries in China reported by the leading US researcher in a personal account of his adventures there.Mark Norell establishes this revolution in our understanding of dinosaurs that has occurred in the last decade. Dinosaurs are no longer thought of as lizards so much as birds. The transformation can be seen by comparing the first Jurassic Park movie with its leathery dinosaurs to the recent reconstructions in the BBC series "Walking with Dinosaurs in America" where they appear as warm-blooded feathered animals, attending their young and brooding their nests.This transformation in popular culture is based on fossil discoveries in one profoundly important region in China: Liaoning Province. Mark Norell, the Chair and Curator, Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, is the leading US researcher on these fossils, and he has traveled to the region repeatedly over the last decade. Here he tells the story of these discoveries and his work with an extraordinarily talented group of Chinese scientists.Unearthing the Dragonis a very personal account of being in a foreign land with a radically different culture, history of science, and code of social behaviors. In the hinterland of China, farmers, not trained researchers, often collect fossils. Local officials' trust is garnered over banquet meals and vigorous drinking sessions. Photographer and artist Mick Ellison shares in the adventures as the pair navigates forward through the world of modern China--and leads readers back to a magical prehistoric land of feathered dinosaurs revealed in the Liaoning fossils."Reads like Redmond O'Hanlon goes fossil-hunting in China. But that is where the resemblance stops, for Mark Norell is a master paleontologist and the fossils are some of the most wonderful and important ever found."--Alan Walker, FRS, Professor of Biological Anthropology and Biology, Pennsylvania State University, author ofThe Wisdom of Bones"Captures the sights, the sounds--even the smells--of a hard-working, hard-playing surf-dude paleontologist on the fossil trail. Rex and drugs and rock'n'roll!"--Henry Gee, Senior Editor, Biological Sciences,Nature"Enlightening and entertaining. Norell's knowledge of fossils and his passion for Chinese culture merge in this eminently readable account of one of the most important paleontological breakthroughs of the last century."--Neil H. Shubin, Professor and Chair, Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago"A gritty, fast-paced pursuit in search of feathered dinosaurs. Norell's writing gives you the feeling that you are right there, next to him following the fossil trail."--Donald C. Johanson, Virginia M. Ullman Chair in Human Origins; Professor, Department of Anthropology; Director, Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University; and author ofFrom Lucy to Language