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Feathers
As seen on PBS's American Spring Live, one of America's great nature-writers explores the magic and science of feathers Feathers are an evolutionary marvel: aerodynamic, insulating, beguiling. They date back more than 100 million years. Yet their story has never been fully told. In Feathers, biologist Thor Hanson details a sweeping natural history, as feathers have been used to fly, protect, attract, and adorn through time and place. Applying the research of paleontologists, ornithologists, biologists, engineers, and even art historians, Hanson asks: What are feathers? How did they evolve? What do they mean to us? Engineers call feathers the most efficient insulating material ever discovered, and they are at the root of biology's most enduring debate. They silence the flight of owls and keep penguins dry below the ice. They have decorated queens, jesters, and priests. And they have inked documents from the Constitution to the novels of Jane Austen. Feathers is a captivating and beautiful exploration of this most enchanting object.
The Evolution of Feathers
Feathers are one of the most unique characteristics of modern birds and represent the most complex and colourful type of skin derivate within vertebrates, while also fulfilling various biological roles, including flight, thermal insulation, display, and sensory function. For years it was generally assumed that the origin of flight was the main driving force for the evolution of feathers. However, various discoveries of dinosaur species with filamentous body coverings, made over the past 20 years, have fundamentally challenged this idea and produced new evolutionary scenarios for the origin of feathers. This book is devoted to the origin and evolution of feathers, and highlights the impact of palaeontology on this research field by reviewing a number of spectacular fossil discoveries that document the increasing morphological complexity along the evolutionary path to modern birds. Also featuring chapters on fossil feather colours, feather development and its genetic control, the book offers a timely and comprehensive overview of this popular research topic.
Feathers
Young naturalists explore sixteen birds in this elegant introduction to the many, remarkable uses of feathers. A concise main text highlights how feathers are not just for flying. More curious readers are invited to dig deeper with informative sidebars that underscore how feathers of all shapes and sizes help birds with warming or cooling, protect them from the sun, help them swim, glide or even dig. With a range of common and exotic species readers will be engaged by both the new and the familiar. Beautiful and delicate watercolor illustrations showcase life-size feathers and compare them to everyday objects. With a scrapbook design, Feathers is part science journal, part read-along nonfiction, making it a wonderful resource for nature studies and a delight for the youngest bird lovers.
Why Do Birds Have Feathers?
From ostriches to pigeons, there are many kinds of birds on Earth. How did they evolve? How have they changed to fit their environment? This book answers these questions and more as it brings readers face to face with birds of all sizes, shapes, and abilities. Readers will learn about early birds, such as the Archaeopteryx, and what we’ve learned from their fossils. They’ll also learn about the classifications for birds that are alive today, such as perching birds, raptors, and flightless birds. Colorful pictures, diagrams, and sidebars take readers on an adventure to meet these amazing feathered friends.
Why Do Owls and Other Birds Have Feathers?
Find out all about feathers and how they help owls fly, keep warm, hunt and survive. Discover how feathers are different on different birds and how they change as birds grow up.
Fine Feathers
A selection of stories featuring, among others, four of Benson's heroines: Amy Bondham, Dodo, Mrs. Ames, and Miss Mapp.
Plumes
"A bold and original work of cultural and economic history, Plumes examines the thriving global trade in ostrich feathers from the "feather boom" of the 1880s to the economically devastating "feather bust" that coincided with the First World War. At that pivotal moment, the exotic plumes that had adorned the hats of women in the capitals of Europe and America-such as the elusive Barbary feather from Sudan, coveted the world over for its "dazzling fullness, width at the crown, and so-called double fluff" - fell precipitously out of fashion." "But this is much more than the story of a vogue. It is also a remarkable portrait of Jewish enterprise. "Jews played a crucial and visible role not only...
Fur and Feathers
How do ducks stay dry? What is sheep's hair called? Why do peacocks have long feathers? read and discover the facts in Macmillan Factual Readers, a six-level series which allows young English language learners to explore a variety of fascinating real-world topics.
