Dinosaurs in Australia
Mesozoic Life from the Southern Continent
By: Benjamin P Kear, Robert J Hamilton-Bruce
A comprehensive overview of the latest research on Australian Mesozoic faunas and floras.
Over the last few decades our understanding of what Australia was like during the Mesozoic Era has changed radically. A rush of new fossil discoveries, together with cutting-edge analytical techniques, has created a much more detailed picture of ancient life and environments from the great southern continent. Giant dinosaurs, bizarre sea monsters and some of the earliest ancestors of Australia’s unique modern animals and plants all occur in rocks of Mesozoic age. Ancient geographical positioning of Australia close to the southern polar circle and mounting geological evidence for near freezing temperatures also make it one of the most unusual and globally significant sources of fossils from the age of dinosaurs. + Full description
This book provides the first comprehensive overview of current research on Australian Mesozoic faunas and floras, with a balanced coverage of the many technical papers, conference abstracts and unpublished material housed in current collections. It is a primary reference for researchers in the fields of palaeontology, geology and biology, senior undergraduate and postgraduate students, secondary level teachers, as well as fossil collectors and anyone interested in natural history.
Dinosaurs in Australia is fully illustrated in colour with original artworks and 12 reconstructions of key animals. It has a foreword by Tim Flannery and is the ideal book for anybody seeking to know more about Australia’s amazing age of dinosaurs.
- Short descriptionNews
No longer available in a print edition.
Reviews
"This will be particularly invaluable for anyone who has tried to decipher the anatomy of a described specimen from the grainy grayscale photographs or line drawings of many journal articles. Nonetheless, this volume is highly recommended to anyone who wants a deeper understanding of Australian paleontology, or for specialists in the Mesozoic of Gondwana."
Andrew A Farke, The Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol 87, pp. 144
"Benjamin P Kear and Robert J Hamilton Bruce are to be congratulated for producing a highly accessible, up-to-date and informative book on Mesozoic life in Australia. The excellent illustrations and photos, even without scales, also make this text suitable for high school students. My six-year-old daughter also enjoyed it."
Marc Hendrickx, The Australian Geologist, March 2012
"Here is a publication which will appeal to the amateur and the specialist alike. The main title and cover illustration will draw the attention of the general reader, whilst the subtitle tells of its scope and content. This book is comprehensive in its scope and the detail of its up to date references, and should prove valuable to a very wide readership."
John Sellick, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 164, pp. 714–716
"The book is beautifully illustrated, with large high-quality photographs of the fossils as well as colourful reconstructions of many of the animals.
... if you are interested in Australian Mesozoic faunas and want an easily accessible overview (and have plentiful funding to buy books with), then it definitely deserves its place on the coffee table in your office, as lighter, enjoyable reading between the more technical literature."
Jesper Milàn, Palaeontological Association Newsletter, Issue 79, pp. 91-93
"This book offers a lot more than dinosaurs in Australia and even more than Mesozoic biota. On top of all that Kear and Hamilton-Bruce actually take you on a journey through ‘deep time’ all the way from the Archaean up to end-Cretaceous—you get your money’s worth!"
Sue Turner, Nomen Nudum, Issue 31, Decmber 2011
"This book is a successful hybrid between a popular and scholarly work. The introductory chapters, the vivid fossil photographs, and the 12 colourful reconstructions will appeal to a general audience. The technical chapter on the fossil organisims in their paleobiological context and the extensive bibliograpy are useful to scholars."
W.L. Cressler III, Choice, December 2011
"Palaeontologists are pretty scarce in Australia; so too are books written by them for general consumption. That’s why it is pleasing to see this comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of Australian Mesozoic fossils. Dinosaurs in Australia covers all Mesozoic fossils and stratigraphy in Australia... This welcome addition to the small collection of works on Australian palaeontology requires only a moderate scientific knowledge to be readily understood and enjoyed."
Robert Jones, Australian Museum: Explore, Sep-Nov 2011, Vol. 33(3), p.6
Features
- First primary reference work providing an up to date summary of the latest discoveries, their source localities and current research. Includes full bibliography of relevant scientific literature on the topic.
- Fully illustrated in colour throughout with three double-page spread original artworks and 12 original reconstructions of key animals.
- Foreword by Tim Flannery
Contents
ForewordAcknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. Setting the stage – the Mesozoic Era
3. Dawn of an era – life from the Triassic
4. Before the ocean – animals and plants of the Jurassic
5. The great inland sea – Australia in the early Cretaceous
6. Life on the shore – early Cretaceous non-marine animals and plants
7. After the ocean – life from the late Cretaceous
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Authors
Benjamin P Kear is an Assistant Professor at Uppsala University in Sweden where his research covers Mesozoic fossils from Australia, Europe, North America and the Middle East. He has authored more than 60 scientific papers on various aspects of palaeontology, together with numerous technical reports, popular articles, extracts and reviews.Robert J Hamilton-Bruce is a Collection Manager at the South Australian Museum in Adelaide and has a research program focusing on living and fossil molluscs. He is also a professional photographer and graphic artist with a diverse portfolio of natural history subjects, educational illustrations and portraiture work.
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