The Rise of Birds: 225 Million Years of Evolution.(Brief Article)

Chatterjee, Sankar. Johns Hopkins. Nov. 1997. c.300p. permanent paper. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-8018-5615-9. $39.95. NAT HIST

Even as the fossil record of birds is becoming better known, heated debate remains. Are birds really living dinosaurs? Did flight evolve from the "ground up" or the "trees down"? Here, Chatterjee (paleontology, Texas Tech Univ.) argues that a controversial fossil he discovered and named Protoavis, or "first bird," is indeed the earliest known bird, 75 million years older than Archaeopteryx. He also …