DARREN NAISH is a lecturer, academic researcher, and technical consultant based at the University of Southampton. PAUL BARRETT is head of the Vertebrates and Anthropology Palaeobiology division of the Earth Science department of the Natural History Museum, London. He is the author of many books including National Geographic Dinosaurs.
QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY
Finally, a modern, intelligent, trade book on dinosaurs for
thoughtful readers. Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved is
written by two authoritative specialists, and is beautifully
produced with full-color illustrations. It is not a volume to sit
down and read cover to cover; it is a little dense for that. Take
it in small bits. The book is a startling testament to how far
dinosaur paleontology has come.
BBC WILDLIFE MAGAZINE
There are countless books on dinosaurs, yet this one sets itself
aside. Covering everything from digital reconstructions of
stegosaur locomotion to overhauling our understanding of the K-Pg
asteroid-based extinction 66 (yes, not 65) million years ago, this
clear and accessible book will appeal to anyone with an interest in
evolutionary ecology. With the authors being titanosaurs of the
palaeontological community and brilliant communicators, this book
is a must-have.
LIBRARY JOURNAL
Those who think dinosaurs are nature’s failed experiment with
slow-witted, shambling, overgrown lizards will quickly find their
minds changed by Naish (Tetrapod Zoology blog, Scientific American)
and Barrett (merit researcher, the Natural History Museum, London).
In plain language, albeit hindered by passive voice, the authors
resurrect fleet-footed, sometimes feathered and festooned, possibly
warm-blooded creatures, some of which were direct ancestors of
modern birds. Naish and Barrett detail dinosaur anatomy; phylogeny
and cladistics; the adaptations that made these Mesozoic giants
successful for eons; and maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs’ relation
to birds. They carefully describe functional morphology,
paleoecology, and other methods by which paleontologists
reconstruct the past. Images and captions work seamlessly with and
enhance the text. However, the authors provide no references to
other scientists’ efforts. They also fail to translate fully most
Latin names. This resource complements several slightly older
titles, such as M.K. Brett-Surman and Thomas R. Holtz Jr.’s The
Complete Dinosaur and John Pickrell’s Flying Dinosaurs: How
Fearsome Reptiles Became Birds, while Stephen L. Brusatte’s
Dinosaur Paleobiology offers a more technical treatment. VERDICT
For those who enjoy science but haven’t thought about dinosaurs in
a while, this volume brings these creatures to mind in a whole new
way.—Eileen H. Kramer, Georgia Perimeter Coll. Lib., Clarkston
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
More than 1,000 dinosaur species have been named, so describing for
laypersons the attributes of this large and complex group of
animals is a daunting task, but paleontologists Naish and Barrett
largely succeed in this extensively illustrated volume. They
provide ample background material demonstrating some of the
techniques scientists use to gain a deeper understanding of the
evolutionary relationships, anatomy, physiology, behavior, and
community ecology of extinct animals. The authors regularly explain
how the views of scientists have changed in the face of a
constantly growing set of fossils and new methods of analysis. For
example, they assert that what had previously been described as a
miniature version of Tyrannosaurus rex, a dwarf dinosaur called
Nanotyrannus, is actually a juvenile T. rex. Similarly, they
reassess the origin of flight in birds as well as the shape of the
fleshy parts of many dinosaur faces, concluding that the “standard”
interpretations might not be correct. The book’s least successful
aspect is the overly detailed and technical chapter on dinosaur
cladistics, in which the authors attempt to build a full family
tree of all of the subgroups of dinosaurs. Otherwise, Naish and
Barrett provide an interesting perspective on the current state of
dinosaur knowledge. Illus. (Oct.)
CHOICE
Does the world really need yet another book about dinosaurs? Well,
in this case, the answer is yes. This work is well organized, is
exceedingly well written, and covers a huge swath of territory, not
just about the evolution of dinosaurs and their anatomy (chapters
two and three) but also about how paleontologists have used
scientific methods to learn about the biology and ecology of
dinosaurs. One theme of the book is getting on board with the fact
that birds of today are, in fact, dinosaurs. Thus, the
end-Cretaceous extinction is really an extinction of the “non-bird”
dinosaurs. As a result, there is an entire chapter on the origin of
birds and their evolutionary relations to other dinosaurs. A second
theme tracks how recent discoveries have truly transformed the
science of dinosaur study; therefore, readers are introduced to the
history and modernization of dinosaur studies. The book is
beautifully illustrated in color and positively peppered with
phylogenies; diagrams show evolutionary patterns and relationships.
A final chapter on the terminal Cretaceous extinction event is
followed by a mercifully short glossary.
There are countless books on dinosaurs, yet this one sets itself
aside. Covering everything from digital reconstructions of
stegosaur locomotion to overhauling our understanding of the K-Pg
asteroid-based extinction 66 (yes, not 65) million years ago, this
clear and accessible book will appeal to anyone with an interest in
evolutionary ecology. With the authors being titanosaurs of the
palaeontological community and brilliant communicators, this book
is a must-have.
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