Re: paleonet dino text

[Alistair McGowan <bigal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Chris,
		I'm replying to the list so that other people can 
comment on the books I suggest.

You've set a difficult challenge here, but I think that the book that 
would best fit your purposes is

Fatstovsky, D. E., and D. B. Weishampel. 1996. The evolution and 
extinction of the dinosaurs. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
This would seem to fit all of your criteria. It briefly introduces 
taphonomy and collection in the field, then explains stratigraphy, 
plate tectonics and changes in Mesozoic climates. Then it explains 
systematics and evolution. After that it does dino origins and then 
discusses the major groups, both in terms of a more descriptive 
approach, and then does some fairly good paleobiological coverage in 
its final part. I've never used it on a course, but have it in the 
office as a reference for those times when students ask me dino 
questions that I can't answer. Why do they never want to know about 
Triassic ammonoids?

Other books you might consider

Stanley, S. 1999  Earth System History. W. H. Freeman, San Franscisco.
This covers both geological and paleo topics. We have used this text 
for the past 3 years in our Historical Geology intro course. It 
doesn't focus completely on dinos, and covers more geology. You can 
check out its contents and web support at
http://www.whfreeman.com/college/browse.asp?disc=GEL2&disc_name=Geolog 
y&@id_course=1058000180

The web support is pretty good, and the CD-ROM is somewhat useful.

Cowen, R. 2000. History of Life, 3rd ed. Blackwell Science, Oxford.
This is the text used in one of our courses for non-majors in the 
Environmental History of the Earth. It has very little geology, we 
have to supplement it with additional readings, but it is a well 
written and up to date text. It deals with the whole evolution of 
life, rather than focusing on dinos.

Hope this is of some help. Best of luck with the course.
	Cheers,
		AL

Alistair J. McGowan
Department of Geophysical Sciences,
University of Chicago
Chicago
IL 60637

Phone: 773-955-4040 x5-1170
Fax: 773-702-9505

"Hope is a duty from which paleontologists are exempt."
				David Quammen