Maia A Dinosaur Grows Up Author:John R. Horner Long, long ago, before history was recorded, a gentle species of duck-billed dinosaur roamed what is now Montana. Maia is the story of one of these dinosaurs, from the moment she pecks her way out of an egg to the day she builds a nest and begins a family of her own. — The world is a strange and mysterious place for young Maia, but with her mothe... more »r's help, she and her brothers and sisters learn where to find food and how to protect themselves. As Maia learns about the world as it was 80 million years ago, we learn too.
The earth is slow to reveal the secrets of its ancient past, but when it does, the results are often surprising and delightful. Maia is based on the remarkable discovery by the renowned paleontologist John Horner of a large dinosaur nesting ground in the Montana grasslands in 1978. Here, weathering the eons, were fossils of eggs, hatchlings, and adult dinosaurs representing a new species that would change the way we think about dinosaurs. Here was astonishing evidence that some dinosaur mothers nurtured their babies and defended them against enemies.
Dr. Horner named these plant-eating dinosaurs Maiasaura, meaning "good mother lizards." Maia reflects Horner's highly regarded theory on the life of the maiasaur and on generally-accepted beliefs about life in a vanished world.« less