The famous bone beds of the Morrison Formation, formed one hundred and fifty million years ago and running from Wyoming down through the red rock region of the American Southwest, have yielded one of the most complete pictures of any ancient vertebrate ecosystem in the world. Jurassic West, Second Edition tells the story of the life of this ancient world as scientists have so far been able to reconstruct it. Aimed at the general reader, Jurassic West, Second Edition recounts the discovery of many important Late Jurassic dinosaurs such as Apatosaurus, Allosaurus, and Stegosaurus. But dinosaurs compose barely a third of the more than 90 types of vertebrates known from the formation, which include crocodiles and turtles, frogs and salamanders, dinosaurs and mammals, clams and snails, and ginkgoes, ferns, and conifers. Featuring nearly all new illustrations, the second edition of this classic work includes new taxa named since 2007, updates to the naming and classifications of some old taxa, and expanded sections on numerous aspects of Morrison Formation paleontology and geology.
John Foster is a paleontologist at the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum in Vernal, Utah. He has conducted fieldwork and research in the Morrison Formation throughout the Rocky Mountain region for 30 years, starting while a graduate student at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and the University of Colorado, Boulder. He previously worked as executive director of the Moab Museum in Moab, Utah, and curator of paleontology at the Museums of Western Colorado in Fruita, Colorado. He is also author of Cambrian Ocean World: Ancient Sea Life of North America.
Foreword by Dale Russell Preface Preface to the Second Edition Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations 1 Rainbow Country: An Introduction to Morrison Formation Geology 2 Setting the Stage: Vertebrates and the Jurassic World 3 The Start of it All: The Morrison Vertebrates Come to Light 4 Renaissance: The Picture Fills In 5 Fins, Scales, and Wings: The Morrison Menagerie, Part I 6 Gargantuan to Minuscule: The Morrison Menagerie, Part II 7 The Mess and the Magic: Vertebrate Paleoecology of the Morrison Formation 8 Many Rivers to Cross: A Late Jurassic Journey across the Morrison Floodplain Epilogue: The Morrison Fauna in World Context Appendix A Appendix B Glossary Notes References Index
"A very well-written book. The prose flows easily; it is hard to stop reading once one starts. The presentation of scientific information is excellent. Rather than creating a synthesized story, Foster presents material in its true complexity without resorting to annoying speculation. . . . There is much to be learned from reading this book . . . Recommended."-, reviewing a previous edition or volume "This book makes the discovery and science of dinosaurs easily accessible to a variety of audiences with differing backgrounds."-Samantha Sands, American Paleontologist, reviewing a previous edition or volume ". . . a valuable reference for Morrison specialists. It is a comprehensive, logically structured, well-illustrated, and extremely well-written book. . . . Foster's ability to incorporate such a large body of information, and yet make it accessible, interesting, and useful to a wide variety of readers, is a remarkable achievement."-Jeffrey Martz, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, reviewing a previous edition or volume
