 | Paleobiology of Giant Flightless Birds The fossil record of giant flightless birds extends back to the Late Cretaceous, more than 70 million years ago, but our understanding of these extinct birds is still incomplete. This is partly because the number of specimens available is sometimes limited, but also because widely different approaches have been used to study them, with sometimes contradictory results. This book summarizes the current knowledge of the paleobiology of seven groups of giant flightless birds: Dinornithiformes, Aepyornithiformes, Dromornithidae, Phorusrhacidae, Brontornithidae, Gastornithidae and Gargantuavis. The first chapter presents the global diversity of these birds and reviews the tools and methods used to study their paleobiology. Chapters 2 to 8 are each dedicated to one of the seven groups of extinct birds. Finally, a conclusion offers a global synthesis of the information presented in the book in an attempt to define a common evolutionary model. Delphine Angst is a PhD researcher. Between 2011-2014, she was undertaking her Ph.D. in the Geology Laboratory of Lyon's Earth Planet and Environment Lab, University Claude Bernard Lyon 1 Ecole Normale Sup#65533;rieure de Lyon , under the supervision of Christophe Lecuyer, Eric Buffetaut and Romain Amiot. Between 2009-2011, she completed her Master in Systematic Evolution Pal#65533;obiodiversit#65533; (MS) in the Natural History Museum of Paris. Eric Buffetaut is research director at the National Scientific Research Centre (CNRS), assigned to the Ecole Normale Sup#65533;rieure in Paris. A vertebrate paleontology specialist, he worked first on fossil crocodiles, before turning to dinosaurs, primitive birds and pterosaurs, groups that now constitute his main research topics. The major mass extinctions that have punctuated the history of living beings, and extraterrestrial causes of some of them, are also among the topics on which he works. His interests also include the history of Earth Sciences. |
