Magnificent "Magnificent Mihirungs"

[Ronald Orenstein <ornstn@rogers.com>]

I have been off list for a couple of weeks, so I don't know if this is news 
or not -- but I have just received my copy of "Magnificent Mihirungs: The 
Colossal Flightless Birds of the Australian Dreamtime" by Peter Murray and 
Pat Vickers Rich, and I must say that if a preliminary inspection is any 
guide, purchasing this book should be an absolute no-brainer for anyone 
interested in avian paleontology (or even in dinosaurs).  Certainly there 
has never been so much information in one place about the Australian 
Dromornithidae, and if that doesn't interest you the book concludes with an 
extremely useful gazetteer of the avian skeleton.  I won't go into detail 
on what the book contains, as I have only begun reading it -- my only real 
complaint so far is that it does not contain more paintings like the superb 
portrait on the dust jacket (fortunately, reproduced on the title page as 
well).  I would have liked a set of full-body restorations of all the 
dromornithid species, but I will admit that such a thing would be window 
dressing -- the book is heavily illustrated anyway, and does include quite 
a number of restorations of featherless birds to show their proportions and 
how they might have walked or ran.

--
Ronald I. Orenstein                           Phone: (905) 820-7886
International Wildlife Coalition              Fax/Modem: (905) 569-0116
1825 Shady Creek Court
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L 3W2          mailto:ornstn@rogers.com