Out of thin air : dinosaurs, birds, and Earth's ancient atmosphere /

Out of thin air : dinosaurs, birds, and Earth's ancient atmosphere / Peter D. Ward ; illustrations by David W. Ehlert.

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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 descenda...

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Bibliographic Details
Online Access: Full Text (via ProQuest)
Main Author: Ward, Peter D. (Peter Douglas), 1949-
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: Washington, D.C. : J. Henry Press, ©2006.
Subjects:
From 280 to 345 million years ago
Dinosaurs > Extinction.
Dinosaurs > Evolution.
Paleoecology.
Paleobotany > Carboniferous.
Carboniferous Geologic Period
Dinosaurs > Evolution
Dinosaurs > Extinction
Paleobotany
Paleoecology
Table of Contents:
  • Respiration and the Body Plans of Animal Life
  • Oxygen Through Time
  • Evolving Respiratory Systems as a Cause of the Cambrian Explosion
  • The Ordovician: Cambrian Explosion
  • The Silurian-Devonian: How an Oxygen Spike Allowed the First Conquest of Land
  • The Carboniferous-Early Permian: High-oxygen, Fires and Giants
  • The Permian Extinction and the Evolution of Endothermy
  • The Triassic Explosion
  • The Jurassic: Dinosaur Hegemony in a Low-Oxygen World
  • The Cretaceous Extinction and the Rise of Large Mammals
  • Should We Fear the Oxygen Future?

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