A Field Guide to Mesozoic Birds and Other Winged Dinosaurs

A FIELD GUIDE TO MESOZOIC BIRDS AND OTHER WINGED DINOSAURS, a new book written and illustrated by paleoartist Matthew P. Martyniuk, is a comprehensive guide to the diverse fossil species spanning the evolutionary transition from the first feathered dinosaurs with wings in the mid-Jurassic period 160 million years ago, to the late Cretaceous period and the first modern birds.

Each caenagnathiform ("oviraptor"), deinonychosaurian ("raptor"), enantiornithean ("opposite bird"), and other winged prehistoric bird species is illustrated in multiple views with distinguishing characteristics highlighted, allowing readers to experience how these species may have differed from each other in life. The illustrations and technical descriptions in this guide will illuminate the various pathways and side branches bird evolution followed during its first 100 million years.

More than just a companion volume for paleo-birdwatching, this guide is intended as an valuable tool for readers interested in learning about bird evolution, comparative anatomy, and the biology of the first birds, as well as a quick-reference for artists and researchers interested in accurately restoring Mesozoic birds and their closest dinosaurian relatives.

Preview of interior pages:

Praise for
A Field Guide to Mesozoic Birds and Other Winged Dinosaurs

"Martyniuk has fully captured the true meaning of the 'Feathered Revolution'."
--Andrea Cau, Theropoda

"Laid out in true field guide style, this is a brilliant visual guide to Mesozoic birds and their relatives."
--Darren Naish, Tetrapod Zoology

"The dinosaur history books have literally been redrawn."
--Brandon Keim, Wired

"As a popular reference to bird origins, it is perhaps unmatched in quality, from feathers to beaks to wings."
--Mickey Mortimer, The Theropod Database Blog

"This is a book I'd recommend to everyone with an interest in some of the most wonderful of all creatures (i.e.: birds) and easily deserves a place of its own among works of this genre."
--Albertonykus, Raptormaniacs Blog

"By depicting these animals as nearly indistinguishable from modern birds, Martyniuk reinforces the dinosaur-bird connection in a way that the sparse, body-hugging "fuzz" favored by many other paleoartists does not."
--Will Svensen, Tyrant King Productions