PTEROSAURS

Leather-winged creatures sporting a dazzling variety of beaks, teeth, crests, body shapes and coloration soar across the pages of this introduction to one of the most successful—and diverse—types of prehistoric reptiles. Careful to separate fact from speculation, Arnold describes distinctive features and probable habits for nearly two dozen specifically named species, as well as how the fossilized remains of several of those species came to be discovered. Caple takes permissible artistic license to outfit some of her specimens with outsized sails, bright colors and (building on very limited evidence) pelts. The results will please dino-fans at any level of expertise, despite the lack of a supplementary reading list. (index, museum list) (Nonfiction. 7-9)