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The Complete Dinosaur (Life of the Past) Hardcover – Download: Adobe Reader, June 27, 2012
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Praise for the first edition:
"A gift to serious dinosaur enthusiasts" ―Science
"The amount of information in [these] pages is amazing. This book should be on the shelves of dinosaur freaks as well as those who need to know more about the paleobiology of extinct animals. It will be an invaluable library reference." ―American Reference Books Annual
"An excellent encyclopedia that serves as a nice bridge between popular and scholarly dinosaur literature." ―Library Journal (starred review)
"Copiously illustrated and scrupulously up-to-date . . . the book reveals dinos through the fractious fields that make a study of them." ―Publishers Weekly
"Stimulating armchair company for cold winter evenings. . . . Best of all, the book treats dinosaurs as intellectual fun." ―New Scientist
"The book is useful both as a reference and as a browse-and-enjoy compendium." ―Natural History
What do we know about dinosaurs, and how do we know it? How did dinosaurs grow, move, eat, and reproduce? Were they warm-blooded or cold-blooded? How intelligent were they? How are the various groups of dinosaurs related to each other, and to other kinds of living and extinct vertebrates? What can the study of dinosaurs tell us about the process of evolution? And why did typical dinosaurs become extinct? All of these questions, and more, are addressed in the new, expanded, second edition of The Complete Dinosaur. Written by many of the world's leading experts on the "fearfully great" reptiles, the book's 45 chapters cover what we have learned about dinosaurs, from the earliest discoveries of dinosaurs to the most recent controversies. Where scientific contention exists, the editors have let the experts agree to disagree. Copiously illustrated and accessible to all readers from the enthusiastic amateur to the most learned professional paleontologist, The Complete Dinosaur is a feast for serious dinosaur lovers everywhere.
- Print length1128 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherIndiana University Press
- Publication dateJune 27, 2012
- Reading age18 years and up
- Dimensions8.75 x 2.25 x 11 inches
- ISBN-100253357012
- ISBN-13978-0253357014
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Praise for the first edition: "A gift to serious dinosaur enthusiasts" ―Science "The amount of information in [these] pages is amazing. This book should be on the shelves of dinosaur freaks as well as those who need to know more about the paleobiology of extinct animals. It will be an invaluable library reference." ―American Reference Books Annual "An excellent encyclopedia that serves as a nice bridge between popular and scholarly dinosaur literature." ―Library Journal (starred review) "Copiously illustrated and scrupulously up-to-date . . . the book reveals dinos through the fractious fields that make a study of them." ―Publishers Weekly "Stimulating armchair company for cold winter evenings. . . . Best of all, the book treats dinosaurs as intellectual fun." ―New Scientist "The book is useful both as a reference and as a browse-and-enjoy compendium." ―Natural History"―
"...[A] highly valuable resource for anyone with a serious interest in dinosaurs. Even as dinosaur family trees change, and discoveries alter what we thought we knew, the new volume is a fertile starting place for students and experts interested in paleontological problems they have not considered before. At the very least, The Complete Dinosaur demonstrates how exceptionally rich the study of dinosaurs has become."―National Geographic Laelaps
"Copiously illustrated and accessible to all readers from the enthusiastic amateur to the most learned professional paleontologist, The Complete Dinosaur is a feast for serious dinosaur lovers everywhere."―The Guardian-Birdbooker Report
"Even ruthlessly pruned, a shelf of must-have dinosaur volumes will be overstuffed. . . . One of the best items on that overcrowded shelf would necessarily have been 1997's The Complete Dinosaur from Indiana University Press―until now, when Indiana has produced the title's second edition. . . . This new edition itself represents a considerable evolution: it's twice as big as the original, twice as heavy, twice as detailed, representing the enormous strides in research and extrapolation that have taken place just in the last fifteen years."―Open Letters Monthly
"This substantial, and now revised, multi-author book is a good introduction to dinosaur (and early bird)
science, without demanding much if any technical knowledge, in 45 chapters variously taxonomic and
thematic, on subjects including aspects of dinobiology, methodology and theory, and even dinoart."―Archives of Natural History
"The second edition of The Complete Dinosaur is a special book, which will no doubt continue the legacy of the first edition in bringing cutting-edge dinosaur science to the public."―Priscum
"The text, for the most part, is accessible and the book should be commended for reviewing aspects of dinosaur paleontology that are often restricted to more technical volumes. As such, this is an ideal stepping stone from general interest books on dinosaurs to the primary literature on the subject."―Quarterly Review of Biology
"The Complete Dinosaur is a breathtaking and must-have book that will be devoured by everyone, from the youngest readers who have just discovered the wonders of dinosaurs to palaeontologists who have made the study of dinosaurs their life's work."―History in Review
"This 'encyclopedia,' written by more than 60 paleontologists recognized for their ongoing work with these amazing creatures, is a rich source of information. . . . Highly recommended."―Choice
About the Author
M. K. Brett-Surman is Museum Specialist at the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution.
Thomas R. Holtz, Jr., is Senior Lecturer and Director, Earth, Life and Time Program, Department of Geology, University of Maryland.
James O. Farlow is Professor of Geology at Indiana University–Purdue University at Ft. Wayne.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The Complete Dinosaur
By M. K. Brett-Surman, Thomas R. Holtz Jr., James O. FarlowIndiana University Press
Copyright © 2012 Indiana University PressAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-253-35701-4
Contents
Dinosauria,Contributors,
Part 1 The Discovery of Dinosaurs,
1 Dinosaurs: The Earliest Discoveries David A. E. Spalding and William A. S. Sarjeant,
2 Politics and Paleontology: Richard Owen and the Invention of Dinosaurs Hugh S. Torrens,
3 European Dinosaur Hunters of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Hans-Dieter Sues,
4 North American Dinosaur Hunters Edwin H. Colbert, David D. Gillette, and Ralph E. Molnar,
5 The Search for Dinosaurs in Asia Corwin Sullivan, David W. E. Hone, and Xing Xu,
6 Dinosaur Hunters of the Southern Continents Thomas R. Holtz Jr.,
Part 2 The Study of Dinosaurs,
7 Hunting for Dinosaur Bones David D. Gillette,
8 The Osteology of the Dinosaurs Thomas R. Holtz Jr. and M. K. Brett-Surman,
9 Reconstructing the Musculature of Dinosaurs David W. Dilkes, John R. Hutchinson, Casey M. Holliday, and Lawrence M. Witmer,
10 Dinosaur Paleoneurology Emily Buchholtz,
11 The Taxonomy and Systematics of the Dinosaurs Thomas R. Holtz Jr. and M. K. Brett-Surman,
12 Dinosaurs and Geologic Time James I. Kirkland and James O. Farlow,
13 Technology and the Study of Dinosaurs Ralph E. Chapman, Art Andersen, Brent H. Breithaupt, and Neffra A. Matthews,
14 Claws, Scales, Beaks, and Feathers: Molecular Traces in the Fossil Record Mary Higby Schweitzer and Mark Marshall,
15 Dinosaurs as Museum Exhibits Kenneth Carpenter,
16 Restoring Dinosaurs as Living Animals Douglas Henderson,
Part 3 The Clades of Dinosaurs,
17 Evolution of the Archosaurs J. Michael Parrish,
18 Origin and Early Evolution of Dinosaurs Michael J. Benton,
19 Theropods Thomas R. Holtz Jr.,
20 Birds Darren Naish,
21 Basal Sauropodomorpha: The "Prosauropods" Adam M. Yates,
22 Sauropoda Jeffrey A. Wilson and Kristina Curry Rogers,
23 Stegosaurs Peter M. Galton,
24 Ankylosaurs Kenneth Carpenter,
25 Marginocephalia Peter Makovicky,
26 Ornithopods Richard J. Butler and Paul M. Barrett,
Part 4 Paleobiology of the Dinosaurs,
27 Land Plants as a Source of Food and Environment in the Age of Dinosaurs Bruce H. Tiffney,
28 What Did Dinosaurs Eat: Coprolites and Other Direct Evidence of Dinosaur Diets Karen Chin,
29 Reproductive Biology of Dinosaurs Terry D. Jones and Nicholas R. Geist,
30 Dinosaur Eggs Darla K. Zelenitsky, John R. Horner, and François Therrien,
31 How Dinosaurs Grew R. E. H. Reid (with introductory note by Gregory M. Erickson),
32 Engineering a Dinosaur Donald Henderson,
33 Disease in Dinosaurs Elizabeth Rega,
34 The Scientific Study of Dinosaur Footprints James O. Farlow, Ralph E. Chapman, Brent Breithaupt, and Neffra Matthews,
35 The Role of Heterochrony in Dinosaur Evolution Kenneth J. McNamara and John A. Long,
36 Metabolic Physiology of Dinosaurs and Early Birds John A. Ruben, Terry D. Jones, Nicholas R. Geist, Willem J. Hillenius, Amy E. Harwell, and Devon E. Quick,
37 Evidence for Avian-Mammalian Aerobic Capacity and Thermoregulation in Mesozoic Dinosaurs Gregory S. Paul,
38 "Intermediate" Dinosaurs: The Case Updated R. E. H. Reid,
Part 5 Dinosaur Evolution in the Mesozoic,
39 Principles of Paleobiogeography in the Mesozoic Ralph E. Molnar,
40 Non-Dinosaurian Vertebrates Nicholas C. Fraser,
41 Early Mesozoic Continental Tetrapods and Faunal Changes Hans-Dieter Sues,
42 Dinosaurian Faunas of the Later Mesozoic Matthew T. Carrano,
43 Dinosaur Extinction: Past and Present Perspectives J. David Archibald,
44 Life after Death: Dinosaur Fossils in Human Hands Daniel J. Chure,
45 Dinosaurs and Evolutionary Theory Kevin Padian and Elisabeth K. Burton,
Appendix: Dinosaur-Related Websites,
Glossary,
Index,
CHAPTER 1
Dinosaurs: The Earliest Discoveries
David A. E. Spalding and William A. S. Sarjeant (1935–2002)
The first trackers of dinosaurs were probably other dinosaurs, as tracks have been found apparently showing carnivorous species following herbivores (Lockley 1991, 184). More recently, there is evidence that some early people, whose livelihood came partly from tracking, killing, and dismembering animals, sometimes observed and found significance in tracks, bones, and eggs of long-extinct species of no culinary value.
Traditional knowledge of large fossils has been found to persist among aboriginal peoples on several continents. Pertinent observations have been documented, but often in sources that have not generally received the attention of paleontologists until recent decades. Dinosaur trackways in situ have apparently been marked by petroglyphs and pictographs of uncertain age, so that they can be seen to have been of some significance to their finders. Other specimens have been collected in ancient times and are now found in archaeological contexts. The surviving oral and published record is widely scattered through ancient, medieval, and later literature and appears in the forms of folklore, the tales of travelers, visual records of legendary events, and oral data collected and documented by anthropologists, dinosaur researchers, and aboriginal people. Prescientific cultures have offered a variety of explanations for the remains they observed ranging from mythological to protoscientific.
In this chapter we summarize what is known of early observations of dinosaurs, in approximately chronological sequence before the rise of modern paleontology, discuss the scientific discoveries which led to the naming of the first two genera, and mention the other genera named before Owen recognized a common identity among the remains in 1841.
Simpson's classic paper (1942, 131) presents a framework for the history of fossil vertebrate discoveries. He recognizes a number of periods in North American vertebrate paleontology, of which we are here concerned with the first three. Simpson's prescientific period includes early discoveries and removal of some specimens to Europe, but "no truly scientific study ... had been made." This period extends in North America "from the earliest times to about 1762." Simpson's protoscientific period extends from about 1762 to 1799, in which "vertebrate paleontology was not yet a true science but basic methods were being invented and sporadically applied." In the pioneer scientific period (1799–ca. 1842), Cuvier established the subject "as a true and defined science," while others adopted Cuvier's methods. While there is room for discussion of the appropriate dates of application of the periods outside North America, Simpson's structure provides a useful framework.
Other writers have extended and elaborated on Simpson's approach, paying particular attention to the early beginnings of science in the Western world. Numerous classic dinosaur texts have been pulled together in Weishampel and White (2003). Surveys of early dinosaur discoveries have been published by Buffetaut and Le Loeuff (1993), Delair and Sarjeant (1975, 2002), and Sarjeant (1987, 1997, 2003). Recent books by Adrienne Mayor (2000, 2005) and Jose Sanz (1999), and papers by Mayor (2007) and Mayor and Sarjeant (2001) have addressed discoveries of fossils in ancient civilizations and ethnographic contexts, shedding much light on the beginnings of discovery and interpretation of fossil remains.
It is now clear that many dinosaur and other fossil discoveries have been made by prescientific societies. Some fossil discoveries are commemorated in place-names (Mayor 2007). Some are found only in archaeological contexts, for which no explanations are recorded. The record of the Mediterranean and Chinese civilizations documents ancient fossil discoveries, for some of which there is a written or even visual record offering contemporary interpretations. Ethnographic data from many cultures around the world show different interpretations of vertebrate fossil remains. Some myths of monsters may have roots in fossil discoveries, what Mayor (following Dodson) calls "fossil legends" for traditional tales that specifically refer to physical evidence (Mayor 2005, xxix). In some instances, logical explanations reflecting awareness of geological change, deep time, and ancestral relationships show the development of protoscientific ideas in nonscientific cultures. Medieval societies in Europe begin with the same variety of types of explanations for fossils. Through the Renaissance, more or less fanciful explanations are offered until the emergence of truly scientific methods and explanations came in the last two centuries.
Although history shows a broad evolution of interpretations of vertebrate fossils from legendary to protoscientific to scientific, the progression of ideas appears to be linear only when the most scientific are considered. For instance, less than four decades separate "Noah's Raven" from Hitchcock's Ornithoidichnites, but it is likely that the traditional views continued in folk belief in the area. Even in our own day, legendary and scientific explanations may be offered of the same occurrence by different segments of society. Thus the tracks (supported by associated forgeries) at the Paluxy River site of Dinosaur State Park, Texas, are viewed by "creation scientists" as proof of the contemporaneity of dinosaurs and humans before Noah's flood (Morris 1980), while the same site is interpreted by paleontologists as showing Cretaceous sauropod and theropod tracks (Jacobs 1995). Forged human tracks from this site are documented as far back as 1939 and discussed in a context of other fossil-related puzzles by Mayor (2005, 302) as "frauds and specious legends."
Ancient Asia
Perhaps the oldest evidence of human connection with dinosaurs comes from the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, where in a site ranging in age from late Paleolithic to early Neolithic Roy Chapman Andrews found "bits of dinosaur egg shell, drilled with neat round holes – evidently used in necklaces by primitive peoples" (Andrews 1943, 238; Carpenter et al. 1994, 1).
Dragons played an important part in Chinese lore as far back as the protohistoric period; two emperors are reputedly immediate descendents of dragons, and two azure-colored dragons are reported to have presided over the birth of Confucius. Dragons have been figured in Chinese art as far back as 1100 bc (Andersson 1934).
A possible connection between Chinese dragons and the fossil remains of dinosaurs was noted as early as 1886, when British/Tasmanian geologist and folklorist Charles Gould (1834–1895) drew attention to the Chinese "dragon bones" and figured an Iguanodon skeleton in his gathering of dragon myths (Gould 1886, 199).
Mayor (2000, 39) documents that the I Ching, a compilation drawing on older traditions going back to 1000 bc, includes as a good omen "Dragons encountered in the fields" and suggests that these refer to bones plowed up during agriculture. In the second century bc, bones (possibly of dinosaurs) found during digging of a canal in northern China led to it being called the Dragon-Head Waterway (Mayor 2007). A later report of dragon bones from Wucheng (now Santain County, Sichuan province) is documented by Cheng Qu during the period of the western Jin dynasty, ad 265–317, in a work entitled Hua Yang Goo Zhi (Needham 1959). Although "dragon bones" are generally from fossil mammals, Dong (in Dong and Milner 1988) considered it highly probable that these particular examples represented dinosaurs.
Large fossilized bones were found near Jabalpur in what is now Madhya Pradesh in India by W. H. Sleeman and reported by G. G. Spilsbury in the 1830s. These were not described until 1868 in Hugh Falconer's posthumous memoirs or named until Richard Lydekker included some of the material in Titanosaurus indicus in 1877 (Barrett et al. 2008).
In the 1930s, in what was then Indochina, French geologist Josué Heilmann Hoffet reported a dinosaur caudal vertebra from near Phalane. "Alerted by this discovery, the natives, who had often seen similar bones but had thought they came from buffaloes, told me about places where they thought such remains were to be found.... The bones belonged to genies, and evil would befall anyone who removed them" (Taquet 1994, 148). The "bones" proved to be only "limestones sculpted into bizarre shapes," though there were dinosaur bones in the vicinity. It was not until 1990 that new work was done in the area by Philippe Taquet, who located one of Hoffet's local assistants. The near-scientific explanation – water buffalo was the largest mammal known to the locals – proved to be firmly intermingled with folkloric traditions, for the elders remembered that "they filled forty-three baskets of bones of an ox called ... the magnificent ox.... When they began to dig, there was a lightning storm ... this was a ... warning" (155–156). Taquet found it necessary to buy a pig from the local priest and sacrifice it before he was able to proceed with his fieldwork (156).
Classical Mediterranean
Mayor (2000, 5) notes that Cuvier was well aware of fossil finds in classical times, but that such records have largely escaped the attention of scientists (and classicists) in more recent years. She has documented many references to discoveries of large fossil bones in the ancient world, from the Mediterranean east to India and China, in areas now known for their remains of fossil vertebrates. She shows that fossil bones were well known to inhabitants of many countries, were gathered in temples and other public places, and were often interpreted as remains of giants, monsters, legendary heroes, and other fantastic creatures.
While many of these finds are undoubtedly attributable to proboscideans, cetaceans, and other mammals, some may reflect dinosaur discoveries. A remarkable trail of documentation points to the possibility that Gobi dinosaurs may have given rise to the legendary griffin (Fig. 1.1), which became a popular motif in Greece around 700 bc (This suggestion has, however, been criticized by specialists in Gobi dinosaurs; see, for instance, Novacek 1996, 140ff.), though the same author warms slightly to the idea later (2002, 296).
Later, around 430 bc, Herodotus, in pursuit of tales of flying reptiles in Egypt, made a special trip to see "bones and spines in incalculable numbers, piled in heaps, some big and some small." Mayor (2000, 135) suggests these might have been spinosaurs, known from Egypt.
Mythical Monsters in Medieval Europe
In Europe, fossil footprints of dinosaurs and their progenitors were also linked to legends. While it is known that some dragon tales were inspired by bones of Pleistocene rhinoceros and bear (Buffetaut 1987, 13–14), it is also possible that footprints exposed in the Rhine Valley, Western Germany, may have inspired the story of the slaying of the dragon by the hero Siegfried (Kirchner 1941). When a footprint in Triassic sandstone of Chirotherium – the track maker was a nondinosaurian early archosaur – was incorporated into the stonework of Christ Church, Higher Bebington, Cheshire, England, it came to be known locally as the Devil's Toenail. Many other dragon tales from Britain may ultimately derive from tracks or bones, including a report by J. Trundle (1614) of a "Strange and Monstrous Serpent or Dragon lately discovered and yet living" in Sussex. This dragon was said to be 9 feet (almost 3 m) long, and poor woodcuts of its limb bones were given.
In France, it is probably not coincidental that there is a concentration of dinosaur legends in Provence, where dinosaur eggs are abundant. One dragon at Aix is reputed to have been burst asunder by St. Margaret; another at Tarascon was first vanquished by Hercules, then (in a remarkable show of ecumenical spirit) by St. Martha. At Draguignan, the mayor has the right to have any of his godchildren christened "Drac" (Huxley 1979).
Further south, in Portugal, dinosaur tracks at Cabo Espichel are plainly visible (though not readily accessible) in the cliffs. Perched on the cliff edge is a small chapel, Capela da Memoria (memory chapel), which celebrates the legend of Nossa Senhora da Pedra da Mua (our lady of the mule tracks), commemorating the arrival of the Virgin at this location to evangelize Portugal. Inside the building, an eighteenth-century mural of painted tiles shows the event, with the Virgin riding a mule on the cliff top, escorted by angels and welcomed by residents. In the mural, the "mule's" tracks ascending the cliff are clearly shown, inadvertently providing the first illustration that certainly figures dinosaur tracks (Sanz 2000, 269, 2003, 18–19; Santos and Rodrigues 2008).
Archaeological and Ethnographic Data from the New World
Adrienne Mayor's Fossil Legends of the First Americans (2005) has shown unequivocally that "Native Americans observed, collected, and attempted to explain the remains of extinct ... vertebrate species long before contact with Europeans" (297). Cuvier's documentation of early records of fossils included North American native discoveries, which helped to confirm his theory of worldwide extinctions. But earlier theorizers were at work, as surveys of myth in relation to fossils still apparent show native awareness of many earth science concepts. Douglas Wolfe (leader of the Zuni Basin Paleontology Project) is quoted as saying, "It's all there in one elegant myth, evolution, extinction, climate change, deep time, geology and fossils" (Mayor 2005, 116).
A number of dinosaur track sites are marked by pictographs or petroglyphs of generally unknown age and significance. In Paraiba, Brazil, footprints of carnivorous dinosaurs exposed on a bedding-plane surface of Lower Cretaceous sandstone are "incorporated into a design involving other symbols of unknown significance, carved beside the footprints into the rock surface" (Sarjeant 1997; G. Leonardi in Ligabue 1984). Lockley (1991, 185) cites two similar instances in Utah and also notices use of dinosaur track images on "snake priest's aprons" worn by Hopi dancers in an area where tracks are well known. Mayor records that "the dancers ... weave these designs into their costumes because large, three-toed fossil tracks impressed in rocks were believed to have been made by the Kachina spirit who sends the rain" (2005, 142) (Fig. 1.2). A pictograph appearing to represent a tridactyl footprint appears close to Eubrontes tracks at Flag Point track site in Utah, and has been dated to between ad 1000 and 1200 (Mayor and Sarjeant 2001, 151). Mayor also documents track sites in Arizona known to the Navajos as "The Place with Bird Tracks" (2005, 139) and "Big Lizard Tracks" (2007, 256). A geological feature is explained by the Lakota tradition of the "Big Racetrack" in South Dakota, when in the "first sunrise of time," all the strange creatures were summoned for a great race during which the animals became buried (Mayor 2007, 258).
(Continues...)Excerpted from The Complete Dinosaur by M. K. Brett-Surman, Thomas R. Holtz Jr., James O. Farlow. Copyright © 2012 Indiana University Press. Excerpted by permission of Indiana University Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Product details
- Publisher : Indiana University Press
- Publication date : June 27, 2012
- Edition : Second
- Language : English
- Print length : 1128 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0253357012
- ISBN-13 : 978-0253357014
- Item Weight : 6.4 pounds
- Reading age : 18 years and up
- Dimensions : 8.75 x 2.25 x 11 inches
- Part of series : Life of the Past
- Best Sellers Rank: #604,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #72 in Biology of Dinosaurs
- #72 in Paleontology (Books)
- #84 in Biology of Fossils
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About the authors
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Bob Walters is one of the world’s top paleoartists, with his work appearing in numerous books, magazine and journal articles, TV and films, and award-winning permanent murals in places like the Smithsonian, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Dinosaur National Monument, and others. He lives in Philadelphia.
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Customers find this dinosaur book informative and well-written, with one review describing it as a fantastic introductory guide. The book features numerous illustrations, with one customer noting the excellent diagrams, and customers consider it worth the cost.
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Customers find the book informative and useful, describing it as a well-detailed introductory guide to dinosaurs that is suitable for intelligent adults.
"...The chapters are full of detail and the prose is (at least in big chunks) necessarily technical; you will find many sentences like, "Plagued by..." Read more
"...a gift from my mother serena which is yet a another useful informative fascinating book with intellectually cutting edged based challanging..." Read more
"...Has 1116 pages, tons of illustrations. This book is no lite weight either. It is a heavy book. It is a book that a child will not outgrow...." Read more
"This volume is very informative but also poses many new questions as it opens doors in our quest for knowledge...." Read more
Customers find the book enjoyable to read, with one customer noting it is slightly better than the first edition.
"...and there are illustrations aplenty, not just of the amazing beasts, but of their descent trees, bone loading, tracks, bone growth rings, and much..." Read more
"...One of his favorite place is the Field Museum in Chicago. He LOVES this book! It was a Christmas gift and he gave it 2 thumbs up. 👍🏻👍🏻..." Read more
"...This book is a true masterpiece and will hopefully encourage new interest in the beauty and majestic mystery that was the Dinosaur." Read more
"...descriptions of the differences between dinosaurs, making it a good research book. My only issue is the style of writing...." Read more
Customers appreciate the abundance of illustrations in the book, with one customer noting the well-done dinosaur depictions and another highlighting the excellent diagrams.
"...enormous book: how different dinosaurs evolved; how they are put up as museum exhibits; their bird descendants; their reproductive biology; and much..." Read more
"...Has 1116 pages, tons of illustrations. This book is no lite weight either. It is a heavy book. It is a book that a child will not outgrow...." Read more
"...specifically describe field work, site preparation and illustrating dinosaurs are well done and especially interesting to me...." Read more
"...This book is a true masterpiece and will hopefully encourage new interest in the beauty and majestic mystery that was the Dinosaur." Read more
Customers find the book well worth the cost.
"...-called junk or jargon in it which still nonetheless makes it worth buying for reading because it gives readers a scientifically accurate insight..." Read more
"...This book is a bit pricey but is a good value at the same time when compared to other books of this kind. Has 1116 pages, tons of illustrations...." Read more
"...This reasonably priced volume is worth every penny. Grandpa Rich" Read more
"...is a fairly large book and is expensive (reasonably) but it is well worth the cost...." Read more
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- Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2013Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseLet's say you have read the delightful _My Beloved Brontosaurus_ by Brian Switek and you find yourself hankering for more facts and scientific insight. Let's say you remember being enchanted with dinosaurs as a kid and you wonder what you'd be doing now if the rest of life hadn't turned you away from that initial fascination. Let's say you just want to get the latest on what paleontologists are doing. Here's what to do: get _The Complete Dinosaur_ (Indiana University Press), edited by M. K. Brett-Surman, Thomas R. Holtz, Jr., and James O. Farlow, with Bob Walters as art consultant, and written by sixty experts in different subspecialties. The book is as fine and as imposing a volume as any I have seen from a university press. It is enormous, 1,100 big pages and over six pounds in weight. The pages have lovely wide margins often used for illustrations, and there are illustrations aplenty, not just of the amazing beasts, but of their descent trees, bone loading, tracks, bone growth rings, and much more. This is not light reading, in any sense. I could not take the book to bed for nighttime reading, nor even to my recliner. I wound up setting it on one of my weight benches and reading it from an adjacent chair. The chapters are full of detail and the prose is (at least in big chunks) necessarily technical; you will find many sentences like, "Plagued by inconsistent definitions, use, and predictions, it is not always clear whether gigantothermy postulates a convergence of metabolic rates as well as thermoregulatory performance, or whether the supposed metabolic convergence is toward the reptile level, the mammal level, or in between." (The appendices do include a big and useful glossary, as well as a list of dinosaur-related websites.) The forty-five chapters here, however, represent detailed thought, sustained over centuries (and this is the second edition of the book, the first having come out in 2007). The erudition on display, applied to ancient animals that interest everyone, is an inspiration.
The start of the book gives a history of human thought about dinosaurs, showing that fossil discoveries were made by many primitive societies and may have been the source of myths about monsters, griffins, or dragons. If you fantasize about going into the field and uncovering the next _T. rex_, there are detailed and basic instructions here. Get the permission of the landowner and respect the landscape are the first rules. "Dinosaurs are no longer trophies. Instead they are scientific specimens whose context is as important as the bones themselves." Mapping has been made much easier with GPS. There is a chapter here on specific modern technology used in the field, like handheld devices to upload notes and descriptions of finds directly into a field office, avoiding much of the confusion from the transcription of field notes (or the theft or loss of field journals). A huge amount of the book deals with just how much information we might draw out of fossils. Muscular tissue is seldom fossilized, but putting flesh on dinosaur bones is essential for understanding what they looked like and how they moved. There is even bone evidence for how nerves ran, or infections, or cancers. Bones are not the only things dinosaurs left behind. Rarely, dinosaurs left footprints, and such variables as hip height, print length, or narrowness of separation between left and right prints can be used to calculate speed. Reflecting on the booming field of investigation of what dinosaurs ate is a message that could apply to many of the other subjects of this book: "There is much here to entertain and frustrate the paleontologists of the future!"
There is so much information here in this enormous book: how different dinosaurs evolved; how they are put up as museum exhibits; their bird descendants; their reproductive biology; and much, much more. I will end with a personal note. Every medical student learns the twelve cranial nerves (along with a more or less silly or ribald mnemonic for their names). If someone had asked me about cranial nerves in other mammals, I would have expected that they'd be there, too. But it was a surprise, in the chapter on dinosaur paleoneurology, to see a cast of the inside of the casing of a _T. rex_ brain, and to find the twelve cranial nerves, all lined up in order just like our own. And in the chapter on ankylosaurs, yet another casting of the inside of a braincase shows all twelve. Dinosaurs have what one author here calls "a high coefficient of weirdness," but I was amazed to learn from these examples that maybe they are not so distant after all.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2023Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseMy 14 year old grandson has loved dinosaurs for most of his life. One time he even dressed up as a paleontologist for Halloween. One of his favorite place is the Field Museum in Chicago. He LOVES this book! It was a Christmas gift and he gave it 2 thumbs up. 👍🏻👍🏻
- Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2009Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseI have just received a gift from my mother serena which is yet a another useful informative fascinating book with intellectually cutting edged based challanging material in it such as asking and answering a lot of scientific argumentive questions of debate but without the technical so-called junk or jargon in it which still nonetheless makes it worth buying for reading because it gives readers a scientifically accurate insight into the fascinating world of dinosaurs but unfortunately with all the bloody and gory color realstic illustrations in it which put,s it off a bit for me four and half stars.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2012Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseA family friend recommended this book. He has it in his library I would take his word over most because he is also a paleontologist.
I hot this book for my son. Looking through the book myself, I found it to be very informative. This book is a bit pricey but is a good value at the same time when compared to other books of this kind. Has 1116 pages, tons of illustrations. This book is no lite weight either. It is a heavy book. It is a book that a child will not outgrow. Infact it is a book that a person can reference back to again and again. It's that good as it should be. The information it offers is accurate and well very useful.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2012Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseThis volume is very informative but also poses many new questions as it opens doors in our quest for knowledge. The illustrations are superb, suitable for framing and the chapters are concise and pertinent. All in all a good introduction to paleontology in general and dinosaurs in particular. The sections that specifically describe field work, site preparation and illustrating dinosaurs are well done and especially interesting to me. I highly recommend this book. ( An added bonus:if you dress out at 110 pounds and often walk across a windy campus, this is the book you want under your arm.)
This reasonably priced volume is worth every penny.
Grandpa Rich
- Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2014Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseThe book is absolutely monstrous. It's more than a thousand pages of Dinosaurian goodness. Written by dozens of scientists, all experts in different aspects of Dinosaur science. This book will NOT be delivering you false, outdated information. It was published in 2012 and as of 2014 it still holds up and probably will be for many years to come. This book is a true masterpiece and will hopefully encourage new interest in the beauty and majestic mystery that was the Dinosaur.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2015Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseAn ESSENTIAL book to have for any Zoologist/Paleontologist. This book is a fantastic well detailed introductory guide to Dinosaurs and their ancestors. It is a fairly large book and is expensive (reasonably) but it is well worth the cost. If you are serious about Paleontology, Zoology, Geology, Biology, Anatomy or any other field that might relate to the subject. I highly recommend the purchase of this book.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2014Format: KindleVerified PurchaseA good overall read. There are good descriptions of the differences between dinosaurs, making it a good research book. My only issue is the style of writing. I own one of Dr. Holtz's other dinosaur books, which I thoroughly enjoy, but this one does not have quite the engaging poise. Still, a good textbook, and one of my primary tools of research!
Top reviews from other countries
- InDReviewed in Canada on January 15, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars This book is HUGE!
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchaseif Your really into dinosaur science you’ll definitely enjoy this book.
It is pretty advanced though, readers who aren’t familiar with words used in biology and anatomy will have a harder time understanding it.
- Reader-718Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 1, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Reference Resource.
Format: KindleVerified PurchaseQuite simply, this has to be ‘the’ definitive king (DK) of resources available on the subject.
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SchlappekickerReviewed in Germany on September 26, 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars Gutes darf kosten
Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseArtikel kam zwar erst 3 Tage später als avisiert am 26.09.2017 an, aber gut verpackt und aus GB versandt dann doch relativ schnell. Als Neuware - die 2. Auflage - über den britischen Anbieter relativ preiswert (wohl dem aktuellen Kurs Pfund-Euro geschuldet), zudem ohne Versandkosten, was bei einer Bestellung aus den USA - dort ist das Werk noch preiswerter - die Ware signifikant verteuert hätte. Der Inhalt: über jeden Zweifel erhaben.
Schade, dass solche Standardwerke wenn überhaupt erst spät auf deutsch verlegt werden und dann nicht mehr auf dem neuesten Stand sind. Dann frische ich mein Schulenglisch lieber auf.
Aber auch die ältere Erstausgabe böte wohl noch Vieles, was den reicher bebilderten aber spärlich kommentierten Dino-Büchern (zudem oftmals nur für Kinder/Jugendliche gedacht) abgeht: Detallierte Informationen sowie Hintergrundwissen über wissenschaftliche Methoden aus der Forschung satt.
Die knapp 70 € sind für die über 1000 Seiten dieser 2. Auflage jedenfalls gut angelegt. Die erste, etwas schlankere Ausgabe gibt es noch preiswerter.
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Maurizio PiersantiReviewed in Italy on October 5, 2014
4.0 out of 5 stars Ottimo!
Format: HardcoverVerified PurchasePer tutti gli amanti dei dinosauri una guida completa ed accurata da ogni punto di vista, paleontologico, paleoambientale e geologico!
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驚異の恐竜王国の住人Reviewed in Japan on July 27, 2010
5.0 out of 5 stars 日本語訳で読める恐竜関連の書籍中、間違いなく最高水準
1997年に米国インディアナ大学から出版、2001年に朝倉書店より日本語訳がなされた、恐竜に関する書籍の中でも間違いなく最高水準に位置する事典です。
'・科学界における発見の歴史
'・発掘の仕方と博物館の展示
'・恐竜の各グループ
'・恐竜の生態
'・中生代における他動物グループと大陸移動における環境変化
'・一般大衆における「恐竜文化」
以上のような、恐竜に関する主なジャンルが、40名にものぼる古生物学者によって執筆されています。