Review of "The Story of Birds: A New History from Their Dinosaur Origins to Today" by Steve Brusatte

 

Steve Brusatte is an American paleontologist, dinosaur hunter, science writer, professor, and consultant for Jurassic World. Brusatte has written books about mammals and dinosaurs, and this discourse on birds adds to his impressive paleontology oeuvre.

Rather than pen a dry science chronicle, Brusatte laces his book with fanciful zoological scenarios and anecdotes about researchers, which makes the book fun as well as informative.


Author Steve Brusatte

Brusatte starts out with an observation that might surprise some people. "Dinosaurs, those great icons of extinction, aren't really dead. Birds are dinosaurs. That is the evolutionary story I am going to tell in this book. The complete journey of birds, from their origins among small carnivorous dinosaurs, through the twists and turns of volcanic eruptions and asteroid impacts and drifting continents, to the more than ten thousand species that persist today."



There's been debate about the dinosaur-bird connection since the mid-1800s, but the case was substantially proven in the 1960s when Yale professor John Ostrum found fossils from a dinosaur along the Wyoming-Montana border. Ostrum named it Deinonychus, and it had a neck, pelvis, head, and arms that Ostrum had seen before....in birds.


Deinonychus

Deinonychus inspired Ostrum to take a closer look at Archaeopteryx, the extinct Jurassic bird first discovered in 1861. What Ostrum saw now astounded him. Archaeopteryx looked just like a coelurosaur - a small predatory dinosaur.



In this book, Brusatte explains in detail how dinosaur traits morphed into what we think of as bird characteristics. He also provides proof of dinosaur-bird associations discovered by researchers and experts. I'll give a few examples for the general reader, but keep in mind Brusatte's explanations are MUCH MORE extensive, scientific and detailed.

⚫ The link between dinosaur scales and bird feathers

Both reptile scales and bird feathers are made of corneous beta-proteins (CPB), and research with embryos proves that bird feathers are basically elaborate scales that developed from the substances that make up reptile claws. In fact, many dinosaurs had feathers, as seen in fossils found in China and elsewhere. Feathers did not evolve for flight. It's much more likely feathers originated for insulation and became more elaborate/colorful for sexual selection (attracting mates). Only later, did feathered wings evolve, and become airfoils used for flying.


Fossil of feathered dinosaur Zhenyuanlong suni found in China (top); Artist's depiction of Zhenyuanlong suni (bottom)

⚫ Some dinosaur embryos are distinctly bird-like

In 2019, a fossilized dinosaur egg containing an embryo was discovered in China. Brusatte could tell from the shape of the skull that it was a type of small coelurosaur theropod - one of the feathered dinosaurs. As Brusatte's group analyzed the fossil - which they named Baby Yingliang - they felt like they were studying a bird. The fossil egg had the shape of a chicken egg, and the posture of the embryo was distinctly birdlike.


Fossilized dinosaur egg containing Baby Yingliang

Brusatte points out that much about the eggs, reproduction, and parenting strategies of coelurosaurs were birdlike. He notes, "If you squint at Baby Yingliang's spinal cord, you'll notice minuscule holes that pierce the vertebrae and expand inside the bones as caverns. These bones are largely hollow, as are many bones in modern birds.

⚫ The evolution of flight

Archaeopteryx had wings, but could it fly? Archaeopteryx had asymmetrical feathers, a sign that it had lift-providing wings that could withstand the rigors of propulsion through the air. Also, observation of Archaeopteryx skeletons with intense X-rays show that the density of the wing bones and the thinness of their walls correspond to those of modern-day birds that flap their wings to fly in bursts, for short distances. So Archaeopteryx probably flew.



There are two opposing theories, however, about how dinosaur flight evolved. One group posits flight evolved from the ground up, as fast-running dinosaurs used their proto-wings to catch insects, or leap onto their prey, or turn, etc. Then they somehow started to generate a little lift as well, and took to the skies.

The opposing group prefers a trees-down scenario. These proponents suggest the proto-wings were used by tree-dwelling dinosaurs to extend jumps and provide stability as they leapt between branches, which eventually led to flight.

To resolve the controversy, scientists will need to find fossils of the very first birds, to study the structure of the wings. In any case, much is already known about the evolution of wings, and Brusatte discusses this in some detail.

⚫ From reptile teeth to bird beaks

The most recent common ancestor of modern birds, called crown group birds, lived in the late Cretaceous (around 65 million years ago). A late Cretaceous avian fossil named Asteriornis (aka Wonderchicken), looks something like a half-duck, half-chicken with a large toothless beak.


The skull of the Wonderchicken

Brusatte writes that the late Cretaceous appearance of the Wonderchicken marks the appearance of full-on modern-style birds. He notes, "They changed their teeth for beaks. Now their entire body was that of a bird...Different Cretaceous birds probably lost their teeth for various reasons...Some might have adapted to eat new foods, like nuts or crunchy insects, which could better be crushed by a beak...others might have [discarded] a bit of extra weight from....useless teeth, to unburden themselves further for flying...All it probably took was a few genetic mutations, and the teeth would disappear, leaving the jaws free for new functions." For interested readers, Brusatte provides a thorough discussion of the evolution of the bird beak.


Nearly modern Cretaceous birds


Archaeopteryx beak with teeth (top); Modern fowl beak with no teeth (bottom)

⚫ Birds survive the extinction event at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-P) Boundary

Sixty-six million years ago, an asteroid about six miles (10 kilometers) wide smashed into what is now the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico. It smashed with colossal force, "triggered tsunamis and earthquakes, propelled hurricane-force winds, and activated volcanoes. It turned the atmosphere hotter than an oven, sparking wildfires and liquidating rocks that cooled and fell back down as glass....The dirt and dust from the collision, and the grime and soot from the fires, drifted into the atmosphere and blocked out the sun. It was a global nuclear winter."


Chicxulub crater resulting from the meteorite strike

Most plants and animals died in the mass extinction event, including non-avian dinosaurs. But some birds made it through. Scientists speculate the survivors were ground birds that ate seeds, which can remain in the soil for decades.


Scientists speculate some ground birds survived the extinction event at the K-P Boundary

Brusatte writes, "No matter how they did it, once some crown group birds made it through the nuclear winter and greeted the returning sun, they would have looked out at an empty world. Most niches in the food webs were vacant...Opportunities abounded. And these birds took advantage - they diversified with gusto, evolving into many new species, reconquering the trees, expanding into new environments, and in some cases, moving into the niches of their departed dinosaur brethren."

Brusatte proceeds with an extensive discussion of bird evolution from the Paleogene Era forward, a must-read for bird aficionados. This includes references to the 'eighth continent' Zealandia, most of which is now underwater, with New Caledonia and New Zealand poking up. These regions are known for their large flightless birds, called rattites.




Richard Owen, 19th century English biologist and paleontologist, with the skeleton of a moa from New Zealand

In a fun anecdote, Brusatte recalls, "One of my proudest moments as a father was when my boy Anthony, who was four at the time, proved himself to [paleontologist] Jack Horner." Jack asked Anthony, 'Son, what's your favorite dinosaur?' And Anthony immediately said 'penguins.'


Anthony Brusatte, at five-years-old, next to a montage of penguins at the Prague Zoo

When Anthony heard there were gigantic penguins that lived long ago - taller and heavier than his Dad - he was mesmerized, and informed much of Edinburgh's under-six population.


The ancient colossus penguin was as tall as a basketball player

⚫Bird Intelligence

Brusatte observes, "Birds are smart. Many use tools, recognize themselves in mirrors, have sharp memories, and can plan ahead. And some, like crows and parrots, boast problem-solving skills otherwise seen only in primates like us."

How is this possible? The basic computational unit of the brain is the neuron, and scientists discovered that bird brains are packed with neurons. "For example, a goldcrest, Europe's smallest bird at a mere sixth of an once (4.5 grams), has 164 million neurons, double that of a two-hundred-pound (90 kg) Nile crocodile.



In fact, "pound for pound, [birds] have more cognitive power than mammals, or indeed any other animal." Brusatte expounds on the evolution of bird brains, and the remarkable abilities of these feathered creatures.


A pair of adult ravens transferring a tool between them

⚫ The Future of Birds

Brusatte notes that birds are not doing well. Many modern bird species have gone extinct, and it's the fault of humans. Brusatte writes, "The reasons are varied. We hunt birds, clear their habitats to make farmland and cities, poison them with pesticides, and introduce rats and dogs and other invasive species that crowd them out. And especially over the past couple of centuries, we've been changing the climate so quickly and thoroughly that some birds struggle to cope." It's sad. 😪


The dodo went extinct by the late 17th century

At almost 450 pages, Brusatte covers MUCH MORE territory in the book, which also contains informative endnotes and references. Photos enhance the narrative, and Brusatte's copious acknowledgments add a warm note.

I found the book informative and enjoyable, and highly recommend it.

Thanks to Netgalley, Steve Brusatte, and Mariner Books for an ARC of the book.

Rating: 4.5 stars 

Review of "The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well " by Meik Wiking

 

Hygge (pronounced hoo-gah) - the Danish art of living well - has become quite trendy these days. To find out what it's all about I read 'The Little Book of Hygge' by Meik Wiking (pronounced Mike Viking). Wiking is the CEO of 'The Happiness Research Institute' - a Danish think tank that studies satisfaction, happiness, and the quality of life.



In a nutshell, hygge is a feeling of well-being that can be engendered by pleasant surroundings, tasty food, and good company.....or whatever else makes you feel safe and content. As Wiking describes it, hygge is 'an atmosphere, an experience' - what we feel when we're with people we love in a warm and comfortable place.



Things that promote hygge are called 'hyggelig.' For instance, the following would be hyggelig: a small group of friends sitting around a fireplace in a cabin, wearing big jumpers (sweaters) and wooly socks, drinking malt wine. It would be even more hyggelig if a storm was raging outside. LOL



Danish people strive to have all their life experiences be as hyggelig as possible. They try to have hyggelig homes; go to hyggeling restaurants; entertain hyggelig visitors; play hyggelig games; work at hyggelig jobs; go on hyggelig trips; etc.

**********

A lot of creating hygge is common sense, but - if you want some pointers - Wiking provides a guide:

- Use lots of candles. The Danes place candles everywhere - in bedrooms living rooms, bathrooms, classrooms, boardrooms, etc.



- Place dim lighting in strategic locations. Wiking recommends light fixtures designed by Poul Henningsen, whose lamps provide soft, diffuse light.



- Create a feeling of togetherness with friends and relatives; togetherness is 'like a hug without touching.'

- Maintain a healthy work-life balance. Spend a lot of time with your family.



- Socialize with friends and colleagues.



- Good food. Danish people like meat and potatoes.....and they love sweets - especially cake. A traditional feature of Danish children's birthday parties is 'Cakeman' - a pastry in the shape of a large gingerbread man, decorated with flags, sweets, and candles.



In the book, Wiking includes recipes for a few of his favorite Danish dishes. One is called Skipperlabskovs (Skipper Stew), which is brisket sitting in potato mash - served wtih pickled beets and rye bread.



- Hot beverages. Danes love coffee. If you watch Danish TV series, the characters are always making coffee, drinking coffee, and offering each other coffee.....(like tea in British TV series....LOL)



- Comfortable clothing. For professional wear, Danish men like a T-shirt or sweater under a blazer, usually in black or gray. Danes don't favor three-piece-suits. 



For casual wear, Danes like a comfortable jumper.....with leggings for girls or skinny jeans for boys. And Danes LOVE scarves. 



- Casual hairdos. Danish hairstyles are 'wake up and go'.....or maybe a loose bun for women.



- Comfortable furnishings. Danes enjoy interior decorating, and their decor often includes wood furniture, vintage items, and an open fireplace and/or a wood-burning stove.



- Blankets and cushions. Necessary for snuggling up and getting cozy.



**********

After providing this overview of hygge, Wiking goes on to talk about how to be hyggelig outside the home; during every month of the year - from January to December; and during every season of the year. Wiking also describes various hyggelig experiences he's had with his friends, and writes about his happiness research.

Wiking's suggestions for hyggelig pastimes include things like: spend a weekend in a cabin; have a cooking party with your friends; go out on a rowboat and bring a picnic basket; put couches in your office; have a movie night - with popcorn; go to a hyggelig restaurant and order pickled herring and schnapps; buy confections at a bakery; enjoy exhibitions of Christmas lights; have smorrebrod (an open sandwich on rye bread) with beer or schnapps; read a good book; and so on.



You can probably think up hundreds of 'hyggelig' activities yourself. For example, here's one: invite a couple of friends over; watch Netflix; bring in Mexican food; drink sangria....and later on - have chocolate eclairs for dessert. If you have some hygge suggestions, feel free to comment below.



Wiking sums up his treatise on hygge by noting that a complete hygge experience includes 'taste, sound, smell, and texture.'
- Hyggelig tastes are familiar and sweet.
- Hyggelig sounds might be: the crackling of burning wood; the pitter patter of raindrops; and trees waving in the breeze.
- Hyggelig smells could be aromas that trigger fond memories.
- Hyggeling textures might be wooden surfaces; smooth ceramic cups; and reindeer fur.



I feel like I gained a pretty good understanding of hygge from Wiking's book. However, Wiking's numerous suggestions for 'hyggelig experiences' got very repetitive.....and after awhile, it seemed like a lot of padding to have enough words for an entire book.

Still, if you're curious about hygge, this is a good crash course.

Rating: 3 stars

Review of "Time of Hope: Strangers and Brothers #1" by C.P. Snow

 

I first read C.P. Snow's 'Strangers and Brothers' series some time ago, and it became a favorite. The novels focus on an English barrister/civil servant, Lewis Elliot, who rises from poverty to a position of influence in the early-to-mid 1900s. Elliot is present in the entire eleven-book series, but he's not always the central character.

I think Anglophiles and fans of historical fiction would enjoy the series.

*****

As 'Time of Hope' opens in June 1914, nine-year-old Lewis Eliot - ambling home after an afternoon with friends - is seized with a feeling of dread.



Lewis soon learns his father Bertie's leather merchant business has gone bankrupt. This is especially difficult for Lewis's mother Lena, a proud woman whose hopes had been lofty. "She had a romantic, surging, passionate imagination....as a girl she had expected a husband who would give her love and luxury and state." Deprived of personal success, Lena infuses Lewis with her dreams.



After Bertie's bankruptcy is made public, Lena can hardly show her face in public. Bertie, however, was born with a cheerful disposition, and carries on as a low-paid traveling salesman.



Lena makes budgets and pinches shillings, but the war makes everything more difficult.



Then, when Lewis is eleven, Lena swallows her pride to ask Aunt Milly (Bertie's sister) for the fees she promised for Lewis's secondary school. Aunt Milly agrees, but she's a 'kindly curmudgeon' who tells Lewis, "You've got too good an opinion of yourself....It's your mother's fault for letting you think you're something out of the ordinary."



Lewis observes, "Aunt Milly would consider that her money had been well invested if I contrived to scrape through my years at school without drawing unfavorable attention to myself. And once more I was to listen to her message. My first duty, if ever my education provided me with a livelihood, was to save enough money to pay twenty shillings on the pound on my father's liabilities, and so get him discharged from bankruptcy."

When Lewis finishes secondary school he's almost sixteen, and there's no money for university. Having done well in his studies, Lewis lands a job as a junior clerk in the local Council Education Office, which has possibilities for advancement.



With this in mind, Lewis enrolls in law classes at the local College of Art and Technology (aka the School). There Lewis meets George Passant, a solicitor/managing clerk who teaches a night class in Fundamentals of Criminal Law. George is destined to play an important part in Lewis's life.



Lewis's hopes for a brighter future are bolstered when he inherits 300 pounds from his mother's uncle. Aunt Milly wants Lewis to pay down his father's debts, but his mother, who's terminally ill, insists Lewis is to spend the money to 'get a start.'

After his mother dies, Lewis asserts his independence by taking a room in a boardinghouse. He observes, "I had brought all my possessions in two old suitcases - another suit, two pairs of flannels, some underclothes, a few books and school photographs. I felt despondent in the strange, cheerless room, and yet hopeful with the hope that I saw so often in my mother."



Lewis continues working at the Council Education Office, and starts fraternizing with young people (called 'the group') that George Passant - now in his mid-twenties - is collecting around him. All the group, both men and women, are students at the School. Lewis recalls, "We sat hour after hour at night or on Sunday afternoons in dingy cafés up and down the town, the cafés of cinemas or, late at night, the lorry drivers' caff beside the railway station....soon we developed the practice of all going to spend weekends in a farmhouse ten miles away, where we would cook our own food, pay a shilling a night for a bed, and talk until daybreak."



It's now that Lewis has his next life-altering experience. He observes, "It was in those happy days that, attuned so that my imagination stirred to the sound of a girl's name, I first heard the name of Sheila Knight....attuned because of the amorous climate which lapped around our whole group on those summer evenings....One warm and cloudy midsummer evening, I had met [my friend] Jack out of the newspaper office, and we were walking slowly up the London Road. A car drove by close to the pavement, and I had a moment's sight, blurred and confused, of a young woman's face, a wave. The car passed us, and I turned my head, but could see no more. Jack was smiling. He said 'Sheila Knight'."



For Lewis, it's love at first sight. He and Sheila occasionally go out together, but on Sheila's part it's much more platonic than romantic. Sheila exhibits erratic behavior, suffers from some kind of antisocial personality disorder, and torments Lewis with other men. Still, Lewis is obsessed with Sheila, and their relationship forms a large and important part of this novel (and Lewis's story going forward).



Meanwhile, from age nineteen, Lewis takes steps to further his professional ambitions. George Passant is a solicitor/managing clerk at the firm 'Eden & Martineau', and he urges Lewis to apply for an apprenticeship there. This would cost Lewis a considerable sum, and George insists, "If there's any snag, I should expect you to look on me as your banker. I don't see how you could possibly need more than a hundred pounds on top of your [300 pounds]. Somehow or other, that will have to be found. I insist that you don't let a trivial sum affect your decision."



Lewis meets Mr. Eden and Mr. Martineau and makes a good impression, but ultimately decides to go in another direction. Lewis decides that, instead of becoming a solicitor, he wants to read for the bar (become a barrister). Lewis gets admitted to the Chambers of Herbert Getliffe, where he'll have to pay 208 pounds down, and then pupil's fees - which is more than his entire inheritance. Lewis must borrow money to help with his education and living expenses, and Aunt Milly is cajoled into providing a loan.



Lewis's education/experiences at Herbert Getliffe's Inn occupies a large part of the novel, and provides most of the lighter moments. Getliffe is a memorable character: he's good-natured, but also arrogant; stingy (he never pays for drinks); takes credit for other people's work; is wary about juniors moving up the ladder....and he usually manages to slide out of his promises.



Lewis has to deal with all this during his years at the Inn, and then must 'study study study' to take his bar exams. George Passant, who has extensive knowledge about the law, coaches and encourages Lewis, and is instrumental in Lewis's success.



Towards the end of the novel, Lewis is a London barrister representing a client, and this is the subject of the next book in the series, titled 'George Passant.'

Though the book encompasses the WWI years, there's not much about the conflict aside from the deprivation this causes in Britain. This seems like a hole in the story, since some characters would surely lose loved ones and talk about it. On the upside, the novel has a good bit of British slang, archaic words, and fancy language, which is always fun.

For instance:

➤ George tells Lewis, "You'd become an incomparably better solicitor than most of the bellwethers and sunkets who disfigure what I still consider a decent profession." (In this context, sunket means an idiot.)



➤ When Lewis applies to apprentice in Getliffe's chambers, Getliffe tells him, "It's not easy for me to take you, but I shall. I make it a matter of principle to take people like you, who've started with nothing but their brains....Also, it keeps the others up to it." Lewis observes, "He grinned at me: his mood had changed, his face was transformed, he was guying all serious persons." (Guying means teasing, making fun of.)



➤ Lewis is suffering in his relationship with Sheila, but can't break it off. He observes: "I had seen something of myself, and something of my fate. In detail, I did not burke the certain truths." (Burke originally meant 'to murder by suffocation without leaving marks' but now means suppress the truth/ kid yourself.)



➤ When Lewis is an apprentice barrister and looking for business at police courts, he notes, "I used to attend several....Those courts were only a few miles apart, but in society the distance was vast - from the smart businessmen showing off their cars on the way home from the tennis court, to the baffled, stupid, foreign prostitutes, the ponces and bullies, the street bookmakers, the blowsy ladies of the Pimlico backstreets." (Ponces refers to pimps.)



➤ Mrs. Eden admires Sheila, and Lewis observes, "She was quite unembarrassed by her admiration; it was easy to think of her as a girl, concentrated and intent, unrestrained in a schwärmerei, bringing some mistress flowers and gifts. (In this context, schwärmerei means a crush.)



This debut novel in the series establishes Lewis Eliot's background; conflicted feelings about his mother; confidence in himself; ability to read people; willingness to suffer for Sheila; and deep loyalty to his friends.

This book is set in a time when climate change; pollution; oil reserves; nuclear bombs; etc. weren't issues. People had different worries then, but many concerns - like family; education; professional success; relationships; corruption; poverty; and so on - remain significant.

I like the book and recommend it. 

Rating: 4 stars