The Rise of Birds: 225 Million Years of Evolution

This book is labelled as a second edition but the only place I could find when the first edition was published (1997) was on the blurb on the inside front cover.  It is a completely different book largely because of the new finds and insights which have come in the last 20 years or so.

For many years Archaeopteryx was considered to be the “the missing link” in the evolution of birds.  However in recent years a series of fossils has been found especially in China which fill major gaps in the evolutionary history of birds as they evolved from reptiles.  In the process there have been major changes in the thinking about the origin of feathers, of flight and the relationships between the various groups.

The first two-thirds of the book describe this revolution in the science of bird origins and many of the fossils (many of them fairly small) which have contributed to this.  Chatterjee himself has led various expeditions to find these.  The latter third then discusses the evolution more specifically of eggs and embryos, feathers and footprints, feeding mechanisms and especially the origin of flight (the longest chapter of the book) and there is a final short chapter on ‘Birds and Humans’ which discusses the Quaternary Extinction which we are now in.

It is an academic book, inevitably with some detailed descriptions of fossils.  However it is an easy read and can and should be read and understood by anyone interested in the subject.

Book reviewed by Peter Lack