{"product_id":"9780063493537","title":"The Story Of Birds - Steve Brusatte","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the renowned paleontologist and bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs\u003c\/i\u003e, a sweeping evolutionary history of birds, from their dinosaur origins to the 10,000+ extraordinary species alive today.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTens of billions of birds share the planet with us, an astonishingly diverse array of species that are present nearly everywhere humans call home—and many places we do not. With their flamboyant plumage, joyous dawn serenades, extraordinary aerial feats, they have captivated human imagination for millennia. Undeniably delicate creatures with hollow bones and thin skin protected by downy feathers, how did such a seemingly fragile species break the bounds of Earth and begin to fly, how have they survived millennia, and how does their legacy shape our world?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHailed as “one of the stars of modern paleontology” (\u003ci\u003eNational Geographic\u003c\/i\u003e), Steve Brusatte now tells the extraordinary story of the dinosaurs' living legacy: birds. He begins by exploring how dinosaurs gradually developed the trademark features of birds one-by-one—feathers, wings, beaks, big brains, keen senses, and warm-blooded metabolisms. He investigates why birds were the only dinosaurs to survive the cataclysmic asteroid impact 66 million years ago and chronicles how these survivors rapidly proliferated to produce the diversity of avian species we know today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlong the way, we meet a variety of remarkable – now extinct – species:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e10-foot-tall terror birds with beaks that sliced flesh\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eElephant birds that lived on Madagascar and laid eggs the size of footballs\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePelagornithid seabirds with 20-foot wingspans\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA ferocious Jamaican ibis that used its wings as clubs to attack rivals\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYet, Brusatte also urges us to appreciate the extraordinariness of birds alive today – penguins that literally fly underwater, parrots that can mimic human speech and crows that can make tools and are smarter than most mammals.  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA fascinating scientific history that unearths the origins of birds, \u003ci\u003eThe Story of Birds \u003c\/i\u003eestablishes the living legacy of this remarkable species. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Steve Brusatte","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback Rough front","offer_id":52189936320794,"sku":"9780063493537","price":27.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0790\/0184\/6042\/files\/BNCImageAPI_8a80f297-a1fd-4ce4-be6f-79f813e4d32e.jpg?v=1778265422","url":"https:\/\/www.musicandbooksayr.com\/products\/9780063493537","provider":"Music \u0026 Books Ayr","version":"1.0","type":"link"}