Out of Thin Air
Subtitle: Dinosaurs, Birds, And Earth's Ancient Atmosphere
Contributors: David W. Ehlert (Illustrator)
Publisher: Joseph Henry Press; J. Henry Press
Published: October 30, 2006
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 282
ISBN-13: 9780309100618
Subjects: Birds (ornithology); Evolution; Palaeontology; Paleoecology; Fossils; Science; Nature; Science/Mathematics; Biology, life sciences; Science / Life Sciences / General; Extinction; Life Sciences - Evolution; Paleontology; Dinosaurs
Description: Discusses the effect of changing oxygen levels in Earth's atmosphere on evolution and mass extinctions, and presents the theory that saurischian dinosaurs were able to weather two mass extinctions because of a new, more efficient respiratory system, which was in turn inherited by their descendants the birds.