Eggs, Nests, and Baby Dinosaurs: A Look at Dinosaur Reproduction (Life of the Past)
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 CityCopyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.