Customer Reviews

Walking on Eggs: The Astonishing Discovery of Thousands of Dinosaur Eggs in the Badlands of Patagonia

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In a highly readable account, the authors describe a 1997 scientific expedition to Patagonia, in the desolate, remote region of central Argentina, which results in the discovery of tens of thousands of fossilized dinosaur eggs. Some of the eggs contain the first fossils of embryonic dinosaur skin ever found. In the full flush of discovery, the team of scientists dub their new find 'Auca Mahuevo,' as a pun on the volcano Auca Mahuida around which the field is located, combined with 'mas' 'huevos' or more eggs, in Spanish.

By means of a number of questions, which the authors then proceed to answer in successive chapters, the reader is lucidly lead on the path of scientific discovery. For example, in one chapter, the authors ask and answer: "What Were We Searching For and How Did We Decide Where to Look?" There is one exception to this lucidity, however. In one chapter the authors feel it necessary to provide a primer on dinosaurs, in order to establish all the possible species whose eggs these could be. In my opinion this chapter was a total flop. If you are a dinosaur maven, it was probably unnecessary, and if you are not, as is my case, it was far too technical and dragged on and on. At the end of the 1997 expedition we are treated to the spectacle of an overflow press conference, with all types of media imaginable in attendance.

Next, a 1999 expedition to Auca Mahuevo is described. In this expedition more evidence about egg laying patterns is gathered and another startling fossil discovery is made. a completely new species of dinosaur is found, and the fossil is collected and named: Aucasaurus garridoi. Finally, a 2000, Y2k expedition is described.

On the whole, this is a very enjoyable read, with only a few dull spots, and I recommend it to you.

QUICK REVIEW
This is a fairly good book about the discovery of dinosaur eggs (and a few other fossils) in Argentina and what scientists learned from studying them. An interesting book.

FULL REVIEW
This book is written about a couple of things. Mainly it is the story of what a group of paleontologists discovered at a site in Argentina. They found a number of incredible fossils (some of which had never been seen before) and were able to piece together a picture of what Sauropod dinosaur embryos looked like and what happened to them. They mostly unearthed eggs but they also stumbled across two other skeletons. Overall it was amazing what they found. But the book is also about other things. Within the overall story we are given a history of other dinosaur fossil discoveries as well as lessons on different types of dinosaurs and their classification. We are given a timeline of when dinosaurs lived and some background on how paleontologists collect fossils. All of these things make up the book, so it is not just a simple telling of the story of the discovery. The book isn't fantastic but it is pretty good and generally keeps the attention of the reader. This is the kind of book where if you think you'll be interested in it, there's a good possibility you will but if you aren't interested in it and don't think you'll enjoy it you almost certainly will not. For readers who think they'll be interested, the authors do a good job of taking you through the story by the excitement of discovery. You follow along with them as they come across one great find after another. Sometimes they get a little too technical for the average reader but at other times they don't give as much technical information as the reader may want. And the authors rely a little too much on evolution to try to explain things that aren't full understood. Instead of just saying scientists don't know how something happened or that they can't figure out the whole story, they try to squeeze things into the box of general evolution just because they don't have any other answer at the moment. There are also some slow parts while they go off on a tangent now and then, but it basically flows pretty well and if the readers feel somewhat interested they probably will enjoy this book.

A worthy book and well worth reading if the subject holds interest for you. Generally college level reading.

Being a desolate and arid land, Patagonia is a treasure trove of paleontological sites. This book tells the story of several consecutive expeditions to one of these locations, an area near Nequén which they have christened Auca Mahuevo, where a huge discovery of thousands of dinosaur eggs and several nearly intact skeletons were discovered.

The authors -- Luis M. Chiappe and Lowell Dingus -- describe chronologically the process of discovery, preparation of the fossils for analysis, establishing the time and cause of death, and implied conclusions about the behavior of the species they represented.

Mind you, paleontology can be dreadfully dull. Following the classification systems requires rote memorization and careful attention to barely discernible features on sometimes badly worn bones and embryos. Interesting details are provided on the interactions between the paleontologists, geologists, and locals -- as well as the bad weather conditions they frequently endured. Fortunately, they managed to keep my interest up -- but just barely. Some of the chapters, such as the one on magnetic dating, were hard for a non-scientist such as myself to follow.

Probably the strangest image to emerge in my mind from reading this book is that of oviraptoids, large feathered parrot-headed dinosaurs. Can you imagine what one of those could to to the windshield of your car?