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What Bugged the Dinosaurs?

Insects, Disease, and Death in the Cretaceous
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( 49 ratings, 12 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
What Bugged the Dinosaurs? explores the hidden role of insects in the life and extinction of dinosaurs during the Cretaceous period. Authors George and Roberta Poinar reveal how biting flies, parasitic worms, and disease-carrying insects like sand flies contributed to ravaging dinosaur populations. Drawing on their research analysing insects preserved in amber from Lebanon, Burma, and Canada, the book reconstructs a hostile prehistoric ecosystem rife with bloodsucking vectors passing on malaria, leishmania, and other pathogens. Unique fossil evidence of protozoa and intestinal worms in dinosaur remains provides a fresh perspective on the causes behind the dinosaurs' dramatic decline alongside climate change and meteor strikes.
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Format: Hardback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is ideal for readers interested in palaeontology, entomology, and the science behind dinosaur extinction. It appeals to those who enjoy scientific discoveries told in an engaging and accessible manner, including students, researchers, and general enthusiasts of natural history.

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Shows how insects dominated life on the planet and played a significant role in the life and death of the dinosaurs. Analyzing exotic insects fossilized in Cretaceous amber at three major deposits in Lebanon, Burma, and Canada, this work reconstructs the complex ecology of a hostile prehistoric world inhabited by voracious swarms of insects.

This is an excellent book. There is no doubt Poinar and Poinar have admirable track records and they are well known for their sustained and high-quality work on fossil insects, and especially on insects in amber. -- Michael J. Benton, author of "When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time" Interesting and engaging. This book presents evidence that insects interacted as prey, as competitors for plant food, and as vectors of dinosaur diseases. It develops the intriguing and plausible hypothesis that insects contributed to the extinction of dinosaurs. -- Timothy D. Schowalter, author of "Insect Ecology: An Ecosystem Approach"

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Millions of years ago in the Cretaceous period, the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex—with its dagger-like teeth for tearing its prey to ribbons—was undoubtedly the fiercest carnivore to roam the Earth. Yet as What Bugged the Dinosaurs? reveals, T. rex was not the only killer. George and Roberta Poinar show how insects—from biting sand flies to disease-causing parasites—dominated life on the planet and played a significant role in the life and death of the dinosaurs.

The Poinars bring the age of the dinosaurs marvelously to life. Analyzing exotic insects fossilized in Cretaceous amber at three major deposits in Lebanon, Burma, and Canada, they reconstruct the complex ecology of a hostile prehistoric world inhabited by voracious swarms of insects. The Poinars draw upon tantalising new evidence from their amazing discoveries of disease-producing vertebrate pathogens in Cretaceous blood-sucking flies, as well as intestinal worms and protozoa found in fossilised dinosaur excrement, to provide a unique view of how insects infected with malaria, leishmania, and other pathogens, together with intestinal parasites, could have devastated dinosaur populations.

A scientific adventure story from the authors whose research inspired Jurassic Park, What Bugged the Dinosaurs? offers compelling evidence of how insects directly and indirectly contributed to the dinosaurs' demise.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Reviews praise the book's thorough and accessible scientific approach. The Times Literary Supplement highlights the spectacular colour photographs of fossil insects and the compelling evidence presented for parasite and pathogen roles. Publishers Weekly commends the authors for adding a fascinating new dimension to dinosaur extinction theories by showing how insects could have spread diseases among plants and animals. The scientific narrative is described as impressive, thought-provoking, and vivid.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780691124315

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 06 January 2008

Country: United States

Imprint: Princeton University Press

Illustration: 61 color illus. 39 line illus.

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 152.0mm

Height: 229.0mm

Weight: 482g

Pages: 280

About the Author

George Poinar, Jr., is currently in the Zoology Department at Oregon State University. He is well known internationally in various fields, including paleobiology, nematology, and insect pathology. He became familiar with tropical diseases while serving as a consultant for the United Nations and World Health Organization. Roberta Poinar is a retired research scientist. They are the coauthors of The Amber Forest: A Reconstruction of a Vanished World (Princeton) and The Quest for Life in Amber. Their research has been featured in leading publications worldwide and on television programs such as Nova.

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