To say that the Mesozoic fossils that have been discovered in the Jehol region of China are remarkable is to greatly understate the matter; they are breath-taking. And among all the fossils found, few can rival those of the early birds discovered there. The completeness of the skeletons by themselves would normally be enough to make them significant, but when to this is also added feather and even soft tissue imprints, well… they simply must be seen to be believed.
And for those who would like to do exactly this – see these astonishing fossils – the new Birds of Stone; Chinese Avian Fossils from the Age of Dinosaurs by Luis M. Chiappe and Meng Qingjin offers the opportunity to do so without the need to travel to far off museum archives. With nearly two hundred images reproduced on photo quality paper in a large format hardcover book, Birds of Stone looks to be a book likely to appeal to paleontologists, naturalists, and birders alike.
