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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Splendid Overview Of Dinosaur Paleobiology, September 19, 2003
"The Scientific American book of Dinosaurs" edited by distinguished artist and vertebrate paleontologist Gregory S. Paul is a splendid summary of the current state of knowledge of dinosaurian paleobiology. Although there are a couple of classic articles included in this volume, most notably Robert Bakker's "Dinosaur Renaissance", published in Scientific American in the mid 1970's - which sets the tone of much of the book's contents - most of the text is comprised of recent Scientific American articles or new essays commissioned for this volume. The first two chapters are an overview of the history of dinosaur paleontology and the history of reconstructing dinosaurs from both an artistic and scientific perspective. Chapter Three contains several articles on dinosaur systematics, emphasizing the relationships between living dinosaurs (birds) and their nearest cousins, small predatory theropods such as Velociraptor and Deinonychus, and their larger cousins, the tyrannosaurids, most notably Albertosaurus, and of course, Tyrannosaurus. It closes with an elegant essay on the origin of birds and their flight by distinguished paleobiologists Kevin Padian and Luis Chiappe. Chapter Four is an overview of the physical geography and climate of the middle and late Mesozoic Era, when dinosaurs were the dominant creatures on land. Chapter Five delves into intriguing reconstructions of dinosaur behavior, from locomotion, and food gathering to nesting and the rearing of young. Chapter Six contains several essays on dinosaur bioenergetics, exploring issues such as how rapidly they grew and whether they were - or were not warm blooded creatures. Chapter Seven is devoted to the demise of non-avian dinosaurs at the end of the Mesozoic, focusing on extraterrestrial impacts as the likely "smoking gun" for their extinction. Finally, in Chapter Eight, Gregory Paul offers some interesting speculations on the future of dinosaur paleobiology. This is absolutely a must read for anyone fascinated with dinosaurs, replete with many first-rate drawings and color plates of dinosaurs and their world.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Scientific American Book of Dinosaurs, November 4, 2002
The Scientific American Book of Dinosaurs edited by Gregory S. Paul is a book that combined with the essays that preceed its chapters bring the most current knowledge about dinosaurs to light. The essays contained within this book are written by some of the foremost thinkers of today about dinosaur life long, long ago. This book attempts to answers some of the most commonly asked questions about dinosaurs; where did they live, how did they evolve, which dinosaur families lived where and when, how did they look, act live, were dinosaurs warm-blooded, did they have feathers, did some of them fly, are birds of today the living descendants of dinosaurs, how are dinosaurs named? These are just a few of the questions that are answered by some of the best minds now working on these questions from the knowledge of the fossil remains found. You have to remember that the knowledge that is found here has been debated for years and may not be all conclusive, but the best quess is given from some of the most sensational finds. We are given a remarkable tour of the 140-million-year reign of the dinosaur, a tour that covers some of the most exotic animals that ever walked the earth. This book is written for adults and is not a childrens book.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not What You Think, August 7, 2001
As a fan of Paul's earlier work, Predatory Dinos of the World, I bought this book hoping it would follow a similar format and to some extent, update the previous book. I realize that Paul didn't write this book, but one can always hope for the best. I expected a book that listed all of the known species and gave some info on each. Take note, if this is the type of book your looking for, keep looking. However, this is a good book, with lots of new and informative info., and well worth having if you are interested in dinosaurs. The drawings, many of them by Paul, are first class and represent the state of the art. The color pictures are also good and represent a nice mix of new and old. Especially good is the chapter on feathered dinosaurs and the one on dinosaur thermoregulation. I've found myself reading some chapters many times over. Not perfect, but a very good read that adults will find geared towards them without having to have a masters degree to understand.
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