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Product Description
Synopsis
"The Inner Bird" introduces readers to the avian skeleton, then moves beyond anatomy to discuss the relationships between birds and dinosaurs and other early ancestors. Gary Kaiser examines the challenges scientists face in understanding avian evolution - even recent advances in biomolecular genetics have failed to provide a clear evolutionary story. Using examples from recently discovered fossils of birds and near-birds, Kaiser describes an avian history based on the gradual abandonment of dinosaur-like characteristics, and the related acquisition of avian characteristics such as sophisticated flight techniques and the production of large eggs. Such developments have enabled modern birds to invade the oceans and to exploit habitats that excluded dinosaurs for millions of years.While ornithology is a complex discipline that draws on many fields, it is nevertheless burdened with obsolete assumptions and archaic terminology. "The Inner Bird" offers modern interpretations for some of those ideas and links them to more current research. It should help anyone interested in birds to bridge the gap between long-dead fossils and the challenges faced by living species.
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4 reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
New thoughts on birds
5 Aug 2007
Format:Hardcover
Kaiser's book is called 'The Inner Bird' because he concentrates on the skeleton and internal features of this large and varied group of animals rather than the superficial plumage and behaviour which have been the subject of a great number of books in the past. It is an exceptional and possibly unique presentation of the highly specialized field of modern ornithology and the origin and development of the bird written in language readily accessible to the reader by an acknowledged expert. Kaiser describes the basic structure of birds, the most recent discoveries of feathered dinosaurs, early evolution and the way birds have adapted in their anatomy to different environments. The book is full of interesting insights and asides. Few people are aware for example that the bird was fully evolved long before the extinction of the dinosaurs or why penguins are so successful underwater (their anatomy allows them to generate pressure on the upstroke)or that the little swift may achieve speeds of more than 160 Km/hour. This book is not cheap but very good value for anyone who is interested in these extraordinary animals.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Not flawless, but a badly needed addition to most birding bookshelves
30 April 2008
Format:Hardcover
The Inner Bird is not a typical bird book, and therein lies a great deal of its value. It is the first recent popular science treatment of the anatomy of birds, and how that anatomy ties into the features more commonly written about aspects of avian biology; evolution, behaviour and taxonomy. Even experts of bird ecology or taxonomy will find something of value here, it brings back the almost Victorian emphasis on anatomy, on the skeleton, on how the shape drives the function (and visa versa). The treatment of evolution takes the recent revolution in our understanding of birds as dinosaurs from a skeletal point of view, and the recent breakthroughs in avian systematics and cladistics as derived from DNA and molecular analysis are explained for the layman and contrasted with previous attempts to assemble a tree of life for the class Aves.
The scholarship isn't always flawless, there are a few statements that will leave you scratching your head ("[bee-eaters] are one of only a few small non-passerine birds that undertake lengthy migrations"?). The price is also rather hefty, and the index could have been more helpful, but these are minor distractions in what is otherwise an excellent book that fills a gap in the market.
The scholarship isn't always flawless, there are a few statements that will leave you scratching your head ("[bee-eaters] are one of only a few small non-passerine birds that undertake lengthy migrations"?). The price is also rather hefty, and the index could have been more helpful, but these are minor distractions in what is otherwise an excellent book that fills a gap in the market.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Book review
29 July 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The text is good. But I was expecting more detailed diagrams of bird anatomy and evolution in a book about bird anatomy and evolution. I was looking for more of what's shown on the cover. Instead, it's a steaming pile of text mostly. Well, as the saying goes, "don't judge a book by its cover."
How will can we visualize without diagrams? There's too few in this book. I will have to use another source for that now.
How will can we visualize without diagrams? There's too few in this book. I will have to use another source for that now.
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