"The articles collected in this volume ... are meant to give an overview of what we've come to learn about dinosaurs. Because our understanding grows and changes with each new discovery, the selections were culled exclusively from the past decade. Most are examples of what some would call "popular" science writing: pieces intended for anyone interested in the topic, not just experts."--Preface.

Part I.What were the dinosaurs? -- Dinosauria / Kevin Padian and Paul M. Barrett -- Dinosaur dreams : reading the bones of America's psychic mascot / Jack Hitt -- Extreme dinosaurs / John Updike -- Flesh & bone : a new generation of scientists brings dinosaurs back to life / Joel Achenbach -- Dinosaurs under the knife / Erik Stokstad -- Part II. Bone sharps, fossil hunters, and dinosaur experts -- Where dinosaurs roamed / Genevieve Rajewski -- For fossil hunters, Gobi is no desert / John Noble Wilford -- Journey to the past / Kylie Piper -- Bone hunt : a reporter's week in the wilds of Montana / Sid Perkins -- Dinosaur shocker! / Helen Fields -- The dino wars / Donovan Webster -- Part III. Of a feather? : the bird-dinosaur link -- Are birds dinosaurs? : new evidence muddies the picture / Carolyn Gramling -- Which came first, the feather or the bird? / Richard O. Prum and Alan H. Brush -- Bird's-eye view / Matthew T. Carrano and Patrick M. O'Connor -- Dinotopia / Jeff Hecht -- Origin of species : how a T. Rex femur sparked a scientific smackdown / Evan Ratliff -- Part IV. Mass extinction : what killed the dinosaurs? -- Were dinosaurs the victims of a single catastrophe? Yes, and an asteroid did the deed / David Fastovsky -- Were dinosaurs the victims of a single catastrophe? No, it only finished them off / J. David Archibald -- New theory on dinosaurs : multiple meteorites did them in / William J. Broad -- Yucatan asteroid didn't kill the dinosaurs, study says / Angela Botzer -- I am become death, destroyer of worlds / The Economist -- A theory set in stone : an asteroid killed the dinosaurs, after all / Katherine Harmon -- Part V. New discoveries -- The hunt for predator X / James O'Donoghue -- Bringing up baby : the evidence mounts that some dinosaurs were attentive parents / David J. Varricchio -- Winged victory / Gareth Dyke -- Blood from stone : how fossils can preserve soft tissue / Mary H. Schweitzer -- Dinosaurs' living descendants / Richard Stone.