Dactyls! Dragons of the Air

by Robert T. Bakker

Dactyls. Flying Dragons. Pterodactylus. Whatever you call them, they are simply wonderful! Renowned paleontologist Dr. Robert T. Bakker explains how scientists observe fossils and living animals to determine how dactyls flew, walked, climbed, fed, and thought. Also included for the first time ever is his latest, still-unnamed discovery–an unusual dactyl with sharp-edged, backwards curved teeth, nicknamed "Snaggle Tooth."


From the Hardcover Library Binding edition.

Genres: Dinosaurs, Animals, Nonfiction, Childrens

48 pages, Paperback

First published November 22, 2005

About the author

Bakker was born in Bergen County, New Jersey. He attributes his interest in dinosaurs to his reading an article in the September 7, 1953 issue of Life magazine. He graduated from Ridgewood High School in 1963.
At Yale University, Bakker studied under John Ostrom, an early proponent of the new view of dinosaurs, and later gained a PhD at Harvard. He began by teaching anatomy at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and Earth and Space Sciences, where future artist Gregory S. Paul worked and collaborated informally under his guidance. Most of his field work has been done in Wyoming, especially at Como Bluff, but he has ranged as far as Mongolia and South Africa in pursuit of dinosaur habitats.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

MVery good. This is my 3rd favorite dinosaur 🦕. I don't like that far from Montana, cool 😎!

[Yael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book! Perfect for children of grades 2 and 3, it introduces the reader to pterodactyls, those strange furry flying creatures of the Mesozoic. Pterocactyls -- dactyls -- were the first vertebrates to actually fly. Their bones were hollow, which cut down their weight by a large percentage, and made room for the air sacs which, with the rest of their pulmonary system, made them able to attain high altitudes, higher than we can attain without oxygen tanks and masks. Many fed on fish; some fed on small fish which, eating algae, stored up large amounts of beta-carotene from the algae, and those dactyls were probably colored a pinkish-red, like flamingoes of modern times, whose color likewise ultimately comes from algae. The smallest could sit on your finger, like a robin or parakeet. The largest had 50-foot wingspans, and could have easily carried off a child. They had relativvely large brains, much bigger than a lizards -- though reptiles themselves, they were in a completely different group of reptiles, and were related most closely to non-avian dinosaurs, birds, and crocodiles. Many were probably white, to disguise themselves from fish when flying above the water, so they could get the drop on the fish before the fish knew what was happening. Many were probably colored in beautiful hues, the way birds are and many dinosaurs may have been, to attract mates, warn off rivals, and identify themselves to others of their kind. The last ones perished when the dinosaurs did, about 65 million years ago, but we still marvel at their fossils and the restorations we can do from those fossils.

This book is perfect for children who are still learning the nuts and bolts of reading, stimulating their interest in the life sciences and adding a number of complex terms to their vocabulary, while never losing interest for young readers. Beautifully illustrated by Luis V. Rey in bright colors children will find attractive, it will make a wonderful gift to a child at nis or her brithday or on a holiday.

[Samantha Penrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome!
Great illustrations - Great fun