Table of Contents

Part 1 The search for the smoking gun: romance vs. reality - the seductive allure of dinosaurs; death and taxes? earlier hypotheses explaining dinosaur extinction; reconstructing the murder scene - contrasting the volcanic and impact hypothesis for dinosaur extinction; enormous eruptions and disappearing seaways - evidence for the relatively gradual volcanic hypothesis; fatal impact - evidence for the catastrophic impact hypothesis; the search for the smoking gun - the direct evidence for a K-T impact; lingering problems for proponents of both the impact and volcanic extinction scenarios. Part 2 Dead or alive: living dinosaurs?; dinosaurs challenge evolution; dinosaurs and the hierarchy of life; backbone of evolution; reptile genealogy - extinct relatives of dinosauria; the ancestral dinosaur; the dinosaur family tree; the herbivorous dinosaurs; the road to birds; from the ground up; the origin of birds; death by decree; the road to jurassic park; crossing the boundary; rise and fall of diversity; the great dinosaur extinction; the next wave.