Would dinosaurs have tasted like chicken? John Long, a palaeontologist at Museum Victoria, thinks so. After all, modern birds descended from a group of dinosaurs known as theropods.

Long looks at several species within this group of dinosaurs and then continues on to the primitive birds, combining short descriptions with large, detailed illustrations by Peter Schouten, on topics such as the way dinosaurs used their feathers and wings.

Many people may have heard of the early bird Archaeopteryx, but this beautifully illustrated book also describes lesser known fossils, including dinosaurs with four ‘wings’ (that had feathered back legs that may have been involved in flight too), ground-dwelling dinosaurs that used their wings to capture prey, and species that may have had white feathers to reflect the intense sunlight.

It blurs the line between dinosaurs and birds, to the point that you realise they’re not really extinct – just evolved into a different form.