Geared toward a broad variety of students, Dinosaurs: The Textbook offers a concise and lucid presentation of the core biological and geological concepts of dinosaur science. Revised throughout to reflect recent fossil discoveries and the current scientific consensus, this seventh edition details the evolution, phylogeny, and classification of various dinosaur species while modeling the best approach for navigating new and existing research.

Spencer G. Lucas takes readers through the major taxonomic groups, including theropods, sauropodomorphs, ornithopods, ceratopsians, pachycephalosaurs, stegosaurs, and ankylosaurs. He also examines the behavior and extinction of the dinosaurs, their biological relationship to birds, and their representation (or misrepresentation) in art, literature, film, and other forms of popular culture.

This seventh edition of the leading text for introductory courses on dinosaurs incorporates comprehensive updates based on the latest research. Lucas highlights how dinosaur science is rapidly evolving, exploring how new discoveries, methods, and ideas are expanding the frontiers of knowledge. The book features cutting-edge and scientifically rigorous illustrations by leading paleoartists. It also includes extensive and reader-friendly end-of-chapter summary tools, review questions, a detailed glossary, a dinosaur dictionary, and a comprehensive index.

Spencer G. Lucas

List of Boxed Readings
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
2. Evolution, Phylogeny, and Classification
3. Fossils, Sedimentary Environments, and Geologic Time
4. The Origin of Dinosaurs
5. Theropods
6. Sauropodomorphs
7. Ornithopods
8. Stegosaurs and Ankylosaurs
9. Ceratopsians and Pachycephalosaurs
10. The Dinosaurian World
11. Dinosaur Hunters
12. Dinosaur Trace Fossils
13. Dinosaur Biology and Behavior
14. Hot-Blooded Dinosaurs?
15. Dinosaurs and the Origin of Birds
16. The Extinction of Dinosaurs
17. Dinosaurs in the Public Eye
Appendix: A Primer of Dinosaur Anatomy
Glossary
A Dinosaur Dictionary
Index