The Macmillan Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals: A Visual Who's Who of Prehistoric Life [Paperback]

Dougal Dixon (Author), Barry Cox (Author), R. J. G. Savage (Author), Brian Gardiner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1993

This lavishly illustrated reference provides a trip through our evolutionary past, as it covers more than 600 extinct species--from predatory dinosaurs, primitive amphibians, and giant armored fish to sabertooths, cave bears, and flying reptiles--all depicted in specially commissioned full-color paintings, based the latest paleontological information.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

These are happy hunting days for lovers of dinosaur paraphernalia. As such, the Macmillan encyclopedia has something for everyone: colored reconstructions of the animals matched with a text whose style is accessible to most enthusiasts but whose content is extensive enough for more serious students. Both newly discovered and classic fossil animals are included, and there is background information to put each animal in time, place, and taxonomic perspective. The book's strongest feature is its inclusion of vertebrate animals other than dinosaurs. The variety of fossil fish and mammals should convince the skeptical that dinosaurs had no monopoly on bizarre structure. (See also R. McNeill Alexander's Dynamics of Dinosaurs and Other Extinct Giants , reviewed in this issue, p.00.)-- Margery C. Coombs, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan General Reference (April 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0020429819
• ISBN-13: 978-0020429814
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,116,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars informative; makes an interesting coffee table book too :-), April 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Macmillan Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals: A Visual Who's Who of Prehistoric Life (Paperback)

This informative and well-illustrated book would be a useful adition to any nature- or science-lover's personal library, or an interesting coffee table book

I've only seen and read the 1988 edition so I don't know how many changes have been made in the new edition, but I assume the format's still the same. Basically this is a very good non-technical introduction to prehistoric vertebrates (animals with backbones - fish, amphbians, reptiles, birds & mammals). Although there are some pages that provide the basic background - how fossils form, continental drift, etc - by the far the most interesting, and indeed the bulk, of the book is the coverage it gives to a large number of individual genera, each of which is illustrated by a color painting. It is the sheer number and diversity of creatures covered here, rather than simply a few dozen types of dinosaurs, that makes this book so interesting. I find the realism of the art work tends to vary - some drawings seem more realistic than others, but I suppose that's just personal taste. The art work is still of good quality thoughout though. The accompanying text is brief but clear and informative, and gives a basic introduction to that type of animal. The best thing about this book is that it's not just about dinosaurs (although these are covered in detail) but also deals with many other types of vertebrate creatures as well. My only real criticism is that despite the title - "animals" - no invertebrate animals were included, no trilobites, eurypterids, nautiloids etc. Still, you can only cover so much in the space available, and this book does a pretty good job.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book for it's Time, August 19, 2011

By 

Matthew Starner (Grand Rapids, MI) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Macmillan Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals: A Visual Who's Who of Prehistoric Life (Hardcover)

As a child, I must have checked this book out of the library nearly a hundred times. It's got great illustrations and lots of good information. Obviously, advancements have been made in the field of paleontology and some of the information or graphics are no longer accurate, but it's still a good book, especially for a child who is interested in dinosaurs.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting reading, March 25, 2005

By 

Obi "Obi wan liberali" (SLC, UT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Macmillan Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals: A Visual Who's Who of Prehistoric Life (Hardcover)

Tracing the history of vertebrates, this interesting book provides good information about animals and how they evolved. The illustrations are also very good and interesting. I've read parts of this book to my little daughter and she loves looking at the pictures and imagining living back in time when these animals roamed the earth.

Young earth creationists might want to avoid this book like the plague. The timelines are very heretical and all those intermediate species show a solid pattern of evolution of life on this planet.

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