"There's one thing about her that's hard to ignore, THAT RIDICULOUS NECK! What on Earth was it for?"Poppy the plesiosaur had a preposterously long neck - but what was it for? Did she use it to pluck off pesky parasites, to zap predators with electricity or to ambush unlucky fish?From the brilliant minds of world-renowned plesiosaur expert Dr Adam S. Smith, award-winning author Jonathan Emmett and illustrator Adam Larkum.

Ninety million years ago, giant dinosaurs roamed the earth, pterosaurs flew through the air, and giant reptiles and fish hunted in the oceans. The area that is now Kansas was covered by water and one of its inhabi-tants was the plesiosaur—a reptile with an extremely long neck and a huge body. This early reader about the ancient plesiosaur brings the prehistoric world of this ocean-dwelling animal to life, explain-ing how scientists think these reptiles lived, hunted, and became extinct. Back matter explores other reptiles both ancient and modern and provides additional print, visual, and web resources.

Provides information about enormous reptiles who swam the seas during the dinosaur age.

“Excellent . . . Those who are interested in vertebrate paleontology or in the scientific history of the American midwest should really get a copy.” —PalArch’s Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Revised, updated, and expanded with the latest interpretations and fossil discoveries, the second edition of Oceans of Kansas adds new twists to the fascinating story of the vast inland sea that engulfed central North America during the Age of Dinosaurs. Giant sharks, marine reptiles called mosasaurs, pteranodons, and birds with teeth all flourished in and around these shallow waters. Their abundant and well-preserved remains were sources of great excitement in the scientific community when first discovered in the 1860s and continue to yield exciting discoveries 150 years later. Michael J. Everhart vividly captures the history of these startling finds over the decades and re-creates in unforgettable detail these animals from our distant past and the world in which they lived—above, within, and on the shores of America’s ancient inland sea. “Oceans of Kansas remains the best and only book of its type currently available. Everhart’s treatment of extinct marine reptiles synthesizes source materials far more readably than any other recent, nontechnical book-length study of the subject.” —Copeia “[The book] will be most useful to fossil collectors working in the local region and to historians of vertebrate paleontology . . . Recommended.” —Choice

A group of plesiosaurs — ocean-dwelling cousins of the dinosaurs — keeps safe by swimming in a family pod. But then one baby plesiosaur swims too far from its mother and attracts the attention of something very large and very hungry, and the struggle for survival is on. A unique blend of digital artwork and landscape photography illustrates this thrilling encounter.

Follows the life of a giant prehistoric sea turtle.

Sam's dad says that he is too small to fly their new kite, but when Dad, the postman, a bank robber, and some zoo animals get pulled up into the sky, only Sam can save them.

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The most authoritative illustrated book on flying reptiles available For 150 million years, the skies didn't belong to birds—they belonged to the pterosaurs. These flying reptiles, which include the pterodactyls, shared the world with the nonavian dinosaurs until their extinction 65 million years ago. Some pterosaurs, such as the giant azhdarchids, were the largest flying animals of all time, with wingspans exceeding thirty feet and standing heights comparable to modern giraffes. This richly illustrated book takes an unprecedented look at these astonishing creatures, presenting the latest findings on their anatomy, ecology, and extinction. Pterosaurs features some 200 stunning illustrations, including original paintings by Mark Witton and photos of rarely seen fossils. After decades of mystery, paleontologists have finally begun to understand how pterosaurs are related to other reptiles, how they functioned as living animals, and, despite dwarfing all other flying animals, how they managed to become airborne. Here you can explore the fossil evidence of pterosaur behavior and ecology, learn about the skeletal and soft-tissue anatomy of pterosaurs, and consider the newest theories about their cryptic origins. This one-of-a-kind book covers the discovery history, paleobiogeography, anatomy, and behaviors of more than 130 species of pterosaur, and also discusses their demise at the end of the Mesozoic. The most comprehensive book on pterosaurs ever published Features some 200 illustrations, including original paintings by the author Covers every known species and major group of pterosaurs Describes pterosaur anatomy, ecology, behaviors, diversity, and more Encourages further study with 500 references to primary pterosaur literature

This overview of dinosaur discoveries in Mexico synthesizes current information about the geography and environment of the region during the Mesozoic when it was the western margin of the ancient continent of Pangea. The book summarizes research on various groups, including turtles, lepidosauromorphs, plesiosaurs, crocodyliforms, pterosaurs, and last but not least, dinosaurs. In addition, chapters focus on trackways and other trace fossils and on K/P boundary (the Chicxulub crater, beneath the Gulf of Mexico, has been hypothesized as the site of the boloid impact that killed off the dinosaurs). Dinosaurs and Other Reptiles from the Mesozoic of Mexico is an up-to-date, informative volume on an area that has not been comprehensively described until now.