New Book on the Natural History, Evolution, and Anatomy of Pterosaurs

Thalassodromeus sethi shown consuming a juvenile spinosaur, by paleoart genius Mark Witton.

Paleontologist and remarkable paleoartist Mark Witton has recently announced that his new book Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy has been published. The book regards the evolution, anatomy, functional morphology, and taxonomy of pterosaurs, and contains 200 illustrations throughout 26 chapters according to Witton's website page on this exciting publication. Thankfully for paleontology interested amateurs like me, Witton's new book is meant to be approachable for people who do not have intimate knowledge regarding these intriguingly bizarre flying reptiles. Mark's stunning looking book is apparently the most up to date publication on these animals yet, and it even features new proposals on the hypothetical ancestral species of pterosaurs! As a fan of Mark's beautiful paleoart, I was very excited by his statement that the amount of new illustrations which he had created for this book was partly the reason for the two and a half year wait for its publication. Many of these illustrations apparently depict pterosaurs in never-seen-before situations, and do take an All Yesterdays approach according to Witton. This new publication is also stocked with diagrams and graphics, such as skeletal diagrams and muscle reconstructions.

A diagram depicting the intriguing structure of pterosaur wings, as evidenced by fossils.
(From Mark Witton's book)

Mark has generously shared Chapter 1 and Chapter 17 of the book as sample chapters, which preview how truly remarkable this book is. I have yet to purchase a copy, but I certainly will as soon as possible. I think this book will be definitely worth obtaining, and I have shared a link to where you can purchase the book on Amazon here. To read more about this exciting, new book by great paleoartist and pterosaur specialist Mark Witton, check out this post on his blog: Mark Witton.com Blog: Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy: o...