Dinosaurus: The Complete Guide To Dinosaurs Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
An encyclopedic and vividly illustrated reference. Gone but never forgotten -- no other life form has captured our imagination and attention like dinosaurs. Dinosaurus is organized into the major dinosaur families and identifies 500 species -- creature by creature, from the voracious flesh-eaters to the egg-stealers to the vegetarians. What they looked like. What they ate. How they fought, lived, and died. A dramatic full-color illustration of each dinosaur is accompanied by a concise explanation of their traits and habits. At-a-glance Fact Files describe: Latin name, translation, and pronunciation Adult length, weight and height Diet and habitat Global distribution Dinosaurus challenges and discredits popular myths and long-standing legends. For example: the dinosaur known as Brontosaurus never even existed in the first place. Was Tyrannosaurus really the biggest meat-eater of all time? Were flying dinosaurs simply feeble gliders? Could sea dinosaurs out-swim today's fastest fish? Brimming with the latest research, from contemporary digs in North America, Mongolia, Europe and China, Dinosaurus is comprehensive, innovative, and as compelling and exciting as the dinosaurs themselves.
Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Firefly Books; 1St Edition edition (October 12, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1552977722
ISBN-13: 978-1552977729
Product Dimensions: 9 x 1.5 x 11.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #801,549 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #113 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Animals > Dinosaurs #1004 in Books > Children's Books > Animals > Dinosaurs #4062 in Books > Science & Math > History & Philosophy
See all my dinosaur book reviews.I have been into dinosaurs for 30 of my 35 years, ever since my first trip to the museum gazing upon the fossils of these wonderful creatures. I have an extensive collection of dinosaur books both old and new. "Dinosaurus" is aimed at the new student but is flawed.The beautifully presented "Dinosaurus" is certainly one of the thickest dinosaur books; almost 450 pages of information contained in 15 chapters. The chapters sort dinosaurs into their broader categories like 'The Giants' and 'Armored Dinosaurs', as opposed to era and period order. The 20 page introduction explains such things as fossilisation, evolution, myths, and time scale. The next two chapters provide information on early life and movement onto land. Chapters 3 to 13 specialise on dinosaurs while the last two go into flying reptiles, sea reptiles and animals of the Tertiary and Quaternary Periods.Each page features a single dinosaur. Half of the page is a written explanation or description. This mainly presents information on fossil location, discoverer, and some on features of the dinosaur. There is also a fact-file chart. The other half of the page is a picture, either painted or drawn with colour. The book caters for the new student by providing basic information.I like the way the book is set out. But there are problems:1) The information is not new or cutting-edge, and where there is individual thought it is only speculation.The information on each dinosaur is not new. I'm not a palaeontologist, but I have 30 years of interest and knowledge under my belt. I could open an older book of mine and read the same thing for most of the dinosaurs. So, if you are looking for something fresh or new, this is not it.In dinosaur books, there needs to be a balance between suggested fact and speculation. While some books like "National Geographic Dinosaur" lean too far to suggested fact, "Dinosaurus" speculates too much. For example, I quote: "The long spines of Polacanthus MAY have been along the neck and flanks, with the more curved 'shark's fin' projections along the upper tail. It was a low-slung, heavy dinosaur, PROBABLY with a beak-like mouth for cropping plant food". Polacanthus is an old fossil - it is in books from the 70's. It has been known for years where it's spines are and what it's mouth looks like - the fossil hasn't changed! So there is too much suggestion and not enough fact in "Dinosaurus".However, this book does showcase recent discoveries (last 20 years), but aside from where they are found and what they look like we are not really told anything else. It really is for the new student."Dinosaurus" gives enough information on each dinosaur species for the new student, but it is not comprehensive. My main objection is that it doesn't provide any decent information on genealogies - how the dinosaurs relate to each other. Other dinosaur books, for example "National Geographic Dinosaurs" and "The Kingfisher Illustrated Dinosaur Encyclopaedia", provide much better detail on the families with illustrated family trees matched against time along with evolution patterns. "Dinosaurus" mentions the main group name, for example, Theropoda for Giganotosaurus but not that it is actually an allosaur. All comparisons are with T-Rex not with other allosaurs - its family.2) Pictures.The pictures in "Dinosaurus" are the single most disappointing aspect of this book.Each picture is either very poorly drawn/painted or is terribly inaccurate. For example, I'll just concentrate on the large carnosaurs: Allosaurus is nothing like the modern convention - I'm picturing the allosaurs in 'Walking With Dinosaurs' here: head forward slightly below the neck vertebrae with tail out verses an upright Allosaurus in the book. Also, the book's Carnotaurus doesn't have a bull-like snout but has elbows! Spinosaurus, Albertosaurus and Ceratosaurus are shockingly bad. Megalosaurus looks like Darth Maul.The other thing is, I am a dinosaur romantic. By this I mean I grew up on dinosaur books that painted pictures of the world they lived in and how they interacted with each other and their surroundings. In other words I prefer the books that have many pictures of sprawling landscapes, pictures of herbivorous dinosaurs in their habitats with the local communities, and pictures of the hunter verses hunted in order to gauge size and scope.The pictures of each dinosaur in "Dinosaurus" are stand alone - no background, no context, and no sense of size. There is a scale comparing the dinosaur to a 6 foot man, but this is in terms of 'size' not height or length - meaningless information. And information that requires us to turn pages to compare dinosaurs, instead of scaled diagrams of dinosaurs next to each other.There are hardly any pictures of dinosaurs in an environmental setting and these are taken from other sources anyway. The best ones in this book are also found in "The Kingfisher Illustrated Dinosaur Encyclopaedia". If you want gorgeous pictures, then look no further than Raul Martin - the illustrator of "National Geographic Dinosaurs".Overall, I'm disappointed with "Dinosaurus". It doesn't add anything to my collection. It would probably suit a new student - but it is a lot of money and there are cheaper, better books. I would recommend "National Geographic Dinosaur" first followed by "The Kingfisher Dinosaur Encyclopedia" by Burnie.
...who plans on being a paleontologist (don't we all at some point in out lives). I wanted to get her something that was more factual and authentic, rather than just being another dinosaur story. This book is MASSIVE. It lists all kinds of dinosaurs, including mammals in the metazoic (sp?) era. Lots of neat information, lots of pictures, but the pictures do seem a little dated (may have something to do with the paper quality?). Anyhow, it's a fun book, we even rented a copy for our own entertainment, at our local library after we shipped hers off.
This book rocks! My library has that book and I check it out from time to time and this book should be one of the most cherished and best loved of all dinosaur books with lots of cool dinosaur illustrations, fun facts, and so much more. For over 160 million years, these giant brutes ruled the earth and still do within the pages of this book and all other books just like it. A great literature to have in your home as well as in the library too.
Dinosaurus is certainly a great big book with lots of dinosaur images and simple text to read. You can learn so much about dinosaurs and other animals that live before, during and after them in this book. In fact, I honestly am an expert on dinosaurs. I have been this way ever since I was a young girl. This book, among all the others I have read and enjoyed, will totally keep my dinosaur wisdom refreshed and well informed. It's Simply one of the best!!!
I have several books on dinosaurs. This one has clear concise text without being too technical for a layman to understand, a wide variety of species are covered and the illustrations are nice. It's what I wanted and look for in a dino book.
I purchased this book hoping for something like an encyclopedia or reference guide to Dinosaurs. I am very pleased with the results. The books cover hundreds of species, both land and sea. The sketching/drawings are well-crafted and the accompanying details well written and informative. As a form of reference to prehistoric creatures, this issue excels in every way. Although paperback, the binding is thick and the pages are of good card-stock. The authors also go out of their way to map out the old world, showing the layout of the continents throughout the pre-cambrian period to the triassic era. Very good. I highly recommend.
i've gone through a lot of dinosaur titles trying to find the absolute perfect one, and Dinosaurus is pretty much it. the format is great-- one dinosaur per page with accompanying facts/habits/size, etc.-- and the pictures are convincing and scary enough to satisfy all. for people who used to be dinosaur-loving kids (or, for that matter, still ARE dinosaur-loving kids) this is absolutely super plus excellent.
A fantastic book on dinosaurs! I have an obsession on dinosaurs and a pretty picture book isn't going to cut it. This book has many different kinds of dinosaurs and lots of facts about them. It's a pretty big book and it doesn't go into extreme details about dinosaurs, but it's a wonderful book that I love to read and reread. The pages are wonderfully and colorful with lots of pictures and information. It's a great, simple dinosaur book that isn't super extreme and isn't a basic picture book. I enjoyed this book a LOT and I will keep enjoying this book for many, many years.
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