The Age of Dinosaurs in South America
Fernando E Novas
Indiana University Press
9780253352897
0-253-35289-4
Among the exciting events in recent dinosaur paleontology has been the discovery of significant numbers of dinosaur fossils in South America, many of which are markedly different from their cousins to the north. Fernando E. Novas, one of the scientists closely involved with these important discoveries, presents an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of the dinosaurs of South America. Novas reviews the dinosaur record in the region from Patagonia to Peru, discussing the anatomy, systematics, and evolution of these dinosaurs (and their immediate precursors) within both paleogeographic and paleoecological contexts. He describes all of the important finds in chapter-length studies of the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods. Because the Cretaceous record is so rich, Novas devotes separate chapters to sauropods, theropods, and ornithischians, and puts together the evolutionary story of the period in a final summary chapter. Generously illustrated in color and in black and white, The Age of Dinosaurs in South America is a first-of-its-kind report on these unique and wonderfully diverse dinosaur faunas.