Customer Reviews

The Horned Dinosaurs

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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Dodson's prose is a delight. One rarely finds a scientist who is also a good writer, capable of conveying the complex ideas of geology and biology (as well as history) in a manner that is both informative and exquisitely entertaining. No dry text here. THE HORNED DINOSAURS provides an up-to-date survey of the known ceratopsians, from familiar taxa like Triceratops and Chasmosaurus, to newer, less well-known forms such as Udanoceratops and Einiosaurus. Wayne D. Barlowe provides a series of beautiful color plates. It's a shame similar volumes are not available for other groups of dinosaurs, such as hadrosaurs and ankylosaurs, books useful to both laymen and paleontologists.

This wonderfully illustrated and detailed book has to be in every dinosaur expert's and every dinosaur enthusiast's library. It is not just an encyclopedic summary of every ceratopsian dinosaur genus and species discovered and described so far, but also a discussion on every aspect of their natural history. Dr. Peter Dodson, who is an expert on horned dinosaurs, writes on the discovery, biology and analysis of Triceratops and its kin, the Mesozoic strange beasts

The Horned Dinosaurs written by Peter Dodsonis a book that concerns itself strictly to a group of dinosauria known as the Ceratopsia of which Triceatops is but one of many.

The book is comprehensive in nature and has many illustrations scattered throughout to help the reader, as the author pieces together the fossil evidence. As a child many of us dreamed of dinosaurs and even had toys fashioned after dinosaurs, but the author has actually found and is studing the dinosaurs for real.

Triceratops was one of my favorites as a child. It could take on a T.rex and win with its three long horns, one on the nose and two horns on the brow and a crown of bone like a halo around the head. Well, after reading this book, there are many different horn combinations and number of horns in the group of dinosaurs names Ceratopsia. Five horns, long and short horns, different crown arrangements, all were dangerous. Following the book you'll find out that the environment was dangerous and the Ceratopsia evolved with the level of dangers so did the bone structure.

Puzzles present themselves as fossil remains of a once very proud group of dinosaurs. The author explains some of them as posture, gait and compares them with the fossil record, footprints, but I'm not convinced that the author is correct. This book takes us all over the world where dinosaur digs are found, Mongolia, Alberta, Canada. The adventure in this book is trying to figure out after the discovery what these animals were like.

Clues range from not only the impressive armor in the skulls, but the actual deconstruction of the skeletal remains to nests/eggs and diet and tooth structure. All in all, this book is presented for general readers and specialists, but with the easy going narrative its not hard to be engrossed in this book.

Ceratopsians, or horned dinosaurs, have always been of particular interest to me. This book is a wealth of info about the group. It breaks the group into two distinct sub-groups: centrosaurs and chasmosaurs. These groups were informally called short-frilled and long-frilled ceratopsians. Centrosaurs are characterized by large nasal horns and small or nonexistant brow horns while chasmosaurs are characterized by short nasal horns and longer brow horns. This means that Triceratops, which I can remember being classified in the short-frilled group correctly belongs in the chasmosaur group. The book also explains work being done on statistical analysis of the known finds with an eye to determining which species are valid and which are just individual variation. However, in many instances I was left uncertain about which species were kept and which were incorporated into the remaining species.
In addition to the physiological and evolutionary material, the author includes a good deal of information on how and when the species were discovered. He uses this to set the stage for the analysis work which is the meat of his book.
There was one major problem I had with the book. That is the conclusion he draws that ceratopsians had front legs that were splayed out to the side, much like an alligator's. This is a debate that has gone on for some time. In my opinion, an animal that has splayed out front legs and fully erect rear legs could not exist. One only has to look at living animals to see that there is no animal with legs like that and no other animal in the fossil record has legs like this either. The only animals I know of that have limbs that are set up for different methods of locomotion are birds. And no one is suggesting that ceratopsians flew.
All in all a solid book, but his conclusions could have been more clearly stated.

Peter Dodson has always been known as an influential paleontologist. In paleontology circles, not many are more respected than Dodson. In his many books Dodson has shown his knowledge and expertise, and this one soars above the rest. Five stars to the All American Paleontologist Peter Dodson. And, the cover of this work has even been transformed to be my wallpaper on my PC. Bravo!!

"The Horned Dinosaurs" by Peter Dodson, Princeton Press, 1996
Review by Zachi Evenor

27.4.2011: I couldn't sleep at night so I started to read the 300+ pages new book I bought on Triceratops and other Ceratopsians ("horned" dinosaurs). It is well written, with a lot of humor and it is evident that Prof. Peter Dodson loves this subject. In addition, there are many illustrations (mainly of bones and skulls) but also full restorations of these magnificent horned beasts. The Triceratops illustrations are marvelous.
28.4.2011: I finished reading the chapter on Triceratops. Instead of describing Triceratops biology and how it lived, it deals mainly with fossil finding history and classification. From Marsh, Hatcher and Lull 13 species it reduced to 1-2 today (Triceratops horridus and Triceratops prorsus). Other than that, this chapter has very nice illustrations.
Chapter four deals with the Chasmosaurina sub-family of the Ceratopsids: these are large Ceratopsian dinsaurs characterized mainly by a long frill and short nasal horn. He discusses Torosaurus and explains the true meaning of its name but he also describes Chasmosaurus, Pentaceratops and other relatives. As in the chapter on Triceratops the chapter deals mainly with paleontology, fossil records, fossil finding history and classification rather than biopaleontolgy. The chapter includes illustration of skulls, skeletons and reconstructions of these big reptiles.
The chapter ends with six color drawings by Wayne D. Barlowe of Triceratops horridus (with Tyrannosaurus rex), Chasmosaurus mariscalensis, Stiracosaurus albertensis (with crocodile), Pachyrhinosaurus canadensis, Leptoceratops gracilis (with turtle) and Psittacosaurus mongoliensis.
Chapter five does the same but for the Centrosaurinae sub-family which its main characters are short frill, very short postorbital horns and a long nasal horn. Starting from Monoclonius, discovered by Edward Drinker Cope at 1876, he goes through Centrosaurus and Styracosaurus - the "spikey lizard".
Chapter six deals with post WW2 discoveries, mainly with the large Centrosaurinean Pachyrhinosaurus, and later the Avaceratops (discovered by Dodson himself).
Chapter seven deals with the early Ceratopsians, mainly the American Leptoceratops, the Mongolian Protoceratops and the first Ceratopsian Psittacosaurus. The big scoop of this chapter is that Oviraptor ("Eggs Thief"), who was found near nests and thus thought to diet on stolen Protoceratops' eggs, was actually a good mother, caring for its eggs and babies. This confusion arose because the eggs of Oviraptor were initially and mistakenly identified as Protoceratops' eggs.
Chapter eight deals with taxonomy and classification and builds the suborder's family tree, trying to trace "fatherhood" and "sisterhood" connection between the different taxa. Dodson defines the two subfamilies Centrosaurinae and Chasmosaurinae rigorously, describe past attempts of classification and finally suggesting is own version of the family tree based on biometric analysis and characteristics of the skeletons.
Chapter nine deals with the paleo-biology of the Ceratopsids. It discusses their digesting system ("Feeding Large Tummies"), with focus on the jaws. He than discusses rather they were slow movers like Rhinoceros or fast runners like gazzles, and focuses the legs' posture problem: pillars below the body or sprawling legs. Finally "And There Where None", and Dodson tells his point of view on the mass extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Although the discussions in this chapters are long and elaborated, Dodson concludes that many of the questions presented in the book, and particularly in this chapter remained open and waiting to be solved.
13.6.2011: I finished reading Peter Dodson's 346-pages book about "The Horned Dinosaurs" (Ceratopsians).
So, what is mine conclusion? This is probably the best book about Triceratops and its relatives. Although it is helpful to know well bone anatomy and a specially Latin terminology for bones' names, it can be read by non-biologists lay man. The book is written in English, for those of you who wondered. The weak spot of the book is that he deals mainly with history of fossil digging and classification and not with paleo-biology of the Ceratopsids, which is more interesting. For example: Dodson do states that a bull Triceratops can protect itself very effectively against the largest of predators, it do not specify how Triceratops used its horns ans what was its defense strategy. Another weak point is that the book is updated to 1996, and thus not includes latest discoveries. The strong point are the enlightening and rigorous B&W illustrations (most of then by Robert Walters), which help a lot to understand the text, and are treasures for horned dinosaurs enthusiastics. Do I recommend it? If you are a real Dinosaurs lover - Yes. It is probably the best Ceratopsidae book existing today available for the wide audience, but it takes effort to read and thus not fitting for children. If you are an adult Dinosaurs' fonder who wants rigorous information alongside informative illustrations - this is the book for you.

Peter Dodson is Professor of Veterinary Anatomy and also Geology at the University of Pennsylvania. He has done considerable field work at dinosaur fossil excavations on several continents and is a co-editor of the standard reference book, Dinosauria.

Dodson blends the rather esoteric world of comparative horned (ceratopian) dinosaur skeletal anatomy with the history of fossil discovery. He details the fine points of anatomical differences among such huge horned dinosaurs as Triceratops, Torosaurus and Pentaceratops as well as such medium-sized worthies as Chasmosaurus, Centrosaurus and Monoclonius as as well as the oddities like Styracosaurus and Pachyrhinosaurus. He also covers the non-horned ceratopians such as Protoceratops and Psittacosaurus. He weaves together a historical survey of ceratopian discovery and the contributions made by early fossil hunters such as Othniel C. Marsh, Edward D. Cope, John B. Hatcher, Barnum Brown, Roy Chapman Andrews and Charles H. Sternberg. Dobson updates the dinosaur finds throughout the Twentieth century and even adds to it with his discovery of Avaceratops, a small ceratopsid from Montana.

For the creationist reader interested in dinosaurs the last two chapters are especially worth reading. "Sisters, Cousins, and Aunts" (Ch. 8) deals with supposed ceratopian evolution. Dobson describes "phylogenetic reconstruction" as representing "some of the highest intellectual endeavors of the paleontologist today" (p. 244). He admits that the fossils do not show the process of macro-evolution concerning the horned dinosaurs. "A family of dinosaurs cannot simply be read from the rocks, particularly for horned dinosaurs. The fossil record simply doesn't permit it. Clear ancestor-descendant relationships are not unequivocally preserved" (pp. 245-246).

Dodson then goes on to compare the supposed evolution of horses and rhinoceros that span fifty million years of evolutionary time to that of the ceratopians that covers a mere eleven million years. His problem, "The time available is simply too brief for the observed diversification of dinosaurs. Ancestors and descendants--or rather sisters, cousins, and aunts--are commingled in the same faunas." One solution he suggests is that evolutionary change happened "off stage." The new dinosaurs came from areas close to mountain uplifts which were not preserved in the fossil record. Dodson observes, "This is an interesting model, but one for which there is as yet little empirical evidence" ( p. 245).

Dodson suggests that cladistics may provide some answers to this dilemma. However, he cautions, "Cladograms never specify ancestor-descendant relationships. This highly prized goal is regarded as unattainable. A closely linked pair of taxa is said to constitute a sistergroup. The authorized, conservative inference is that members of such a pair of taxa are more closely related to each other than either taxon is to a third. This cautious statement lends itself nicely to paleontology, where the record is notoriously incomplete." (p. 253) The ceratopsia cladogram (p. 256) bears out Dodson's statement where only the genus "leaves" (non-ancestoral) of the phylogenetic tree are shown.

The last chapter, "The Life and Death of Horned Dinosaurs" contains several fascinating sections. The first section is on dinosaur bonebeds. The author points out two types of dinosaur bone beds or graveyards. First is the multi-species sites that he attributes to being "formed more or less slowly and represent the accumulation of carcasses of various kinds of animals, for instance on a river bar, as the animals die over a period of several years" (p. 260). The other type of bone bed "contain only a single species of animal, possibly overwhelmed by a natural catastrophe such a drought, flood, volcanic episode, or unidentified cause." Dodson does not present any reasons why multi-species environments could not be catastrophically overwhelmed. Nor does he address the question of why the past forces of decay and erosion were any less potent for destroying exposed animal remains including bones than they are now.

Dobson and Canadian paleontologist Phillip Currie visited bone bed 143 in Alberta's Dinosaur Provincial Park in 1984. This bone bed contains "scores or even hundreds" of individuals of Centrosaurus. Over the succeeding decade more work was done 0n this bone bed. The bone bed now stretches for nearly 10 km "almost horizon to horizon." (p. 261) This deposit averages twenty bones per square meter and in some quadrants the density reaches sixty bones per square meter. Dodson initially offers the explanation that it was produced by a river flood that drowned a herd of animals. However several sentences later he seems to doubt his own explanation. "Today, it is clear the catastrophe, whatever is was, brought down a herd of ten thousand or more individuals. There is not volcanic ash associated with the deposit to suggest that that sort of cataclysm played a role. Not to belabor a cliche, this is a mystery"(p. 261).

Dodson has a real love for his subject. In the closing paragraphs of this book he writes, "Ceratopian dinosaurs were magnificent animals by any standards. ...No animals on earth have ever had larger skulls, nor more interestingly appointed ones.... They were colorful, noisy, gregarious, belligerent, feisty, loveable creatures.... How keenly I regret their passing. Why did it have to end this way? " (p. 281). Why indeed!

The Horned Dinosaurs written by Peter Dodsonis a book that concerns itself strictly to a group of dinosauria known as the Ceratopsia of which Triceatops is but one of many.

The book is comprehensive in nature and has many illustrations scattered throughout to help the reader, as the author pieces together the fossil evidence. As a child many of us dreamed of dinosaurs and even had toys fashioned after dinosaurs, but the author has actually found and is studing the dinosaurs for real.

Triceratops was one of my favorites as a child. It could take on a T.rex and win with its three long horns, one on the nose and two horns on the brow and a crown of bone like a halo arond the head. Well, after reading this book, there are many different horn combinations and number of horns in the group of dinosaurs names Ceratopsia. Five horns, long and short horns, different crown arrangements, all were dangerous. Following the book you'll find out that the environment was dangerous and the Ceratopsia evolved with the level of dangers so did the bone structure.

Puzzles present themselves as fossil remains of a once very proud group of dinosaurs. The author explains some of them as posture, gait and compares them with the fossil record, footprints, but I'm not convinced that the author is correct. This book takes us all over the world where dinosaur digs are found, Mongolia, Alberta, Canada. The adventure in this book is trying to figure out after the discovery what these animals were like.

Clues range from not only the impressive armor in the skulls, but the actual deconstruction of the skeletal remains to nests/eggs and diet and tooth structure. All in all, this book is presented for general readers and specialists, but with the easy going narrative its not hard to be engrossed in this book.

_____________________________________________
Triceratops and family, as related by Penn paleontologist Peter Dodson, who is a clear and engaging writer. Have a look at the cover-scan at Amazon -- a preview of Wayne Barlowe's wonderful color plates. I bogged down in the anatomy lessons -- the occipital condyle dimensions seem important, but MEGO. The interior art is very nice. And I really like such tidbits as learning that William Buckland, who wrote the first formal dinosaur fossil-description in 1824, kept a pet bear in his house at Oxford. So there may be more here about old horned-face than you want to know, but you owe it to yourself, at least, to look at the wonderful Barlowe plates and read about the fieldwork. For a dino-dilettante like myself, the highlights of dino-books are the color plates, and I would certainly buy a nice, big "best-of" color dino-book. My nominations for artists would include Wayne Barlowe, Carel van Kampen (Dinosaurs of Utah), Doug Henderson (Dawn of the Dinosaurs), and others. If such a book exists, I haven't seen it. Have you? Publishers, take note....

Happy reading--
Pete Tillman
Consulting Geologist, Tucson & Santa Fe (USA)

I will not repeat the wonderful review information posted by others about this volume. This exceptional work should serve as a model by which all books covering specific groups of dinosaurs should be written. I was priviledged to meet Peter Dodson on a paleontology field trip to Quebec two and half years ago. After I realised who this man was I wanted to jump up and yell "Dodson! We have Dodson here!" Those of you who have watched Jurassic Park multiple times as I have will know which scene I am referring to. I mentioned that scene to Peter. I think that it might have been inspired by this man as he was called upon by Michael Crichton for technical expertise while he was actively researching the book that was made into a movie by Steven Spielberg. I personally thanked Dr Dodson for writing "The Horned Dinosaurs" and commented that someone needs to write a similar book about the hadrosaurs. He said that he would love to write that book. I really hope he does because it would fulfull another dream of mine which is probably shared by most of the people reading these reviews. Thank you once again Dr. Dodson for writing this wonderful book!