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The Ultimate Dinosaur Book
Profiles of specimens from every dinosaur group, illustrated with pictures of models and anatomy, offer the paleontological insights into dinosaur posture and gait, musculature and internal organs, behavior, and the reasons for extinction. 40,000 first printing.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
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58 people want to read
About the author
David Lambert
137 books2 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Please see: David Lambert
David Lambert is an editor with the prize-winning Diagram Group, which specializes in the creation of illustrated reference books of all kinds. For more than 50 years he has written about everything from dinosaurs and ancient civilizations to dogs and outer space. His name might not always be on the cover, but it is usually inside the book.
Please see: David Lambert
David Lambert is an editor with the prize-winning Diagram Group, which specializes in the creation of illustrated reference books of all kinds. For more than 50 years he has written about everything from dinosaurs and ancient civilizations to dogs and outer space. His name might not always be on the cover, but it is usually inside the book.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 2, 2025
More this, less Eyewitness ( www.amazon.com/review/RAKNUKXXCWX7V/r... ): 5/5
As you may remember, I love the original "Dinosaur (DK Eyewitness Books)", but "it was never truly great" ( www.goodreads.com/review/show/3512191187 ).* If you want a truly great DK dino book from around the same time, get Lambert's "The Ultimate Dinosaur Book" (henceforth TU) & read it in conjunction with other, more recent books (E.g. Naish/Barrett's "Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved", which is also associated with the NHM). If it were up to me, TU would be the 1 getting updated every few years. In this review, I list the 3 main reasons why that is.
1) TU is very well illustrated. LITC's "Podcast Show Notes: Episode 24" ( https://chasmosaurs.com/2023/03/05/po... ) sums up most everything you need to know about that. However, I'll add my own thoughts as well:
-"The main images in [TU] consist of[...]photographed modelwork by, among others, Roby Braun and Centaur Studios". That by Braun is as good as it gets in TU, while that by CS is as not-so-good as it gets.** This is especially apparent when you compare Braun's T. rex with CS's, which makes me wonder why DK didn't reuse the former instead of the latter ( https://archive.ph/lkZAb ).
-Braun's TU work includes all the front cover models (excluding the Psittacosaurus: https://archive.ph/NWZra ), the "Nieuwe Restauratie" T. rex, the "External View"/"Head From Front"/"Restoration" Carnotaurus, & the "Restoration" Spinosaurus. As pointed out in the podcast, you can see more of Braun's dino work at his Artstation ( https://roby.artstation.com/projects/... ).
-CS's TU work includes the "Front View Of Head"/"Restoration" T. rex, the "External Appearance" Baryonyx, & the "External Appearance" Triceratops. On a related note, I much prefer John Holmes's Baryonyx on the same page ( www.science-photo.de/bilder/11616110-... ).
-It's also worth mentioning that all the "cladograms, family trees, and skeletons and silhouettes for Fact File boxes" are by Janos Marffy, given how perfectly said boxes go with the main images (especially for Baryonyx & Styracosaurus).
2) TU is very well organized. More specifically, the body of TU is divided into 2 main sections, each section reading like its own book with its own intro. Furthermore, the intros aid the transitions between said sections, making them flow into each other more logically. Said sections are as follows:
-1) Remember what I said about Michard's "The Reign of the Dinosaurs" ( www.goodreads.com/review/show/3520821385 )? The same goes for "The Essential Dinosaur", but even more so (More on that below).
-2) Remember what I said about Sattler's "Dinosaurs of North America" ( www.goodreads.com/review/show/4476970573 )? The same goes for "Dinosaur Profiles", but even more so: For 1, it has more sub-groups, which are also arranged phylogenetically (I.e. 1st theropods, then sauropodomorphs, & then thyreophorans, ornithopods, & marginocephalians); For another, it has more cladograms, 1 for each sub-group (E.g. "Theropods", which begins with Herrerasaurus & ends with Compsognathus: https://archive.ph/qTBjP ).
3) TU is very complete & concise. While most obvious in the "A to Z of dinosaurs" (which not only fact files every then-known dino genus, but even "includes cross-references for names not now in standard use"), I think this is better shown in "The Essential Dinosaur". Not only does the latter cover "every aspect of dinosaur anatomy and behaviour", but it does so in only 26 pages. This is especially impressive in "Lifestyles", given how diverse non-bird dinos were ( https://archive.ph/i7ZTT ). On a related note, Library Journal claims that "the text seems overly abbreviated and sometimes unenlightening", using the 1st sentence of the Lambert quote as an example ( https://archive.ph/9kaxH ). However, as indicated by the whole of said quote, said claim is either very stupid or very misleading: In reference to "stupid", "everyone likes a good story, and no story is [more enlightening] than the saga of Earth and life on it" ( www.goodreads.com/review/show/5950560092 ); In reference to "misleading", it implies that the text doesn't immediately elaborate on said sentence even though it clearly does.
*Just to clarify, I mean in terms of overall quality for its time.
**In reference to CS, that's saying a lot. The T. rex (which, to quote Weasel, "look[s] like an avocado had sex with an older, more disgusting avocado") is their only truly ugly model. The rest aren't THAT bad, just very derpy.
Quoting Lambert: "Dinosaurs originated from microscopic marine organisms several thousand million years ago. From these evolved true plants and animals. The processes of genetic change and natural selection led to the appearance of new forms of life. In the Palaeozoic era (about 570-248 million years ago) soft-bodied creatures gave rise to fishes with internal bony skeletons. Fishes produced amphibians that walked on land, and in turn gave rise to reptiles. Reptiles dominated land life in later Palaeozoic times. One group of reptiles evolved into archosaurs or “ruling reptiles”. Dinosaurs were archosaurs that ruled the Mesozoic era (about 248-65 million years ago). Many scientists believe that modern birds are descendants of the dinosaurs."
As you may remember, I love the original "Dinosaur (DK Eyewitness Books)", but "it was never truly great" ( www.goodreads.com/review/show/3512191187 ).* If you want a truly great DK dino book from around the same time, get Lambert's "The Ultimate Dinosaur Book" (henceforth TU) & read it in conjunction with other, more recent books (E.g. Naish/Barrett's "Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved", which is also associated with the NHM). If it were up to me, TU would be the 1 getting updated every few years. In this review, I list the 3 main reasons why that is.
1) TU is very well illustrated. LITC's "Podcast Show Notes: Episode 24" ( https://chasmosaurs.com/2023/03/05/po... ) sums up most everything you need to know about that. However, I'll add my own thoughts as well:
-"The main images in [TU] consist of[...]photographed modelwork by, among others, Roby Braun and Centaur Studios". That by Braun is as good as it gets in TU, while that by CS is as not-so-good as it gets.** This is especially apparent when you compare Braun's T. rex with CS's, which makes me wonder why DK didn't reuse the former instead of the latter ( https://archive.ph/lkZAb ).
-Braun's TU work includes all the front cover models (excluding the Psittacosaurus: https://archive.ph/NWZra ), the "Nieuwe Restauratie" T. rex, the "External View"/"Head From Front"/"Restoration" Carnotaurus, & the "Restoration" Spinosaurus. As pointed out in the podcast, you can see more of Braun's dino work at his Artstation ( https://roby.artstation.com/projects/... ).
-CS's TU work includes the "Front View Of Head"/"Restoration" T. rex, the "External Appearance" Baryonyx, & the "External Appearance" Triceratops. On a related note, I much prefer John Holmes's Baryonyx on the same page ( www.science-photo.de/bilder/11616110-... ).
-It's also worth mentioning that all the "cladograms, family trees, and skeletons and silhouettes for Fact File boxes" are by Janos Marffy, given how perfectly said boxes go with the main images (especially for Baryonyx & Styracosaurus).
2) TU is very well organized. More specifically, the body of TU is divided into 2 main sections, each section reading like its own book with its own intro. Furthermore, the intros aid the transitions between said sections, making them flow into each other more logically. Said sections are as follows:
-1) Remember what I said about Michard's "The Reign of the Dinosaurs" ( www.goodreads.com/review/show/3520821385 )? The same goes for "The Essential Dinosaur", but even more so (More on that below).
-2) Remember what I said about Sattler's "Dinosaurs of North America" ( www.goodreads.com/review/show/4476970573 )? The same goes for "Dinosaur Profiles", but even more so: For 1, it has more sub-groups, which are also arranged phylogenetically (I.e. 1st theropods, then sauropodomorphs, & then thyreophorans, ornithopods, & marginocephalians); For another, it has more cladograms, 1 for each sub-group (E.g. "Theropods", which begins with Herrerasaurus & ends with Compsognathus: https://archive.ph/qTBjP ).
3) TU is very complete & concise. While most obvious in the "A to Z of dinosaurs" (which not only fact files every then-known dino genus, but even "includes cross-references for names not now in standard use"), I think this is better shown in "The Essential Dinosaur". Not only does the latter cover "every aspect of dinosaur anatomy and behaviour", but it does so in only 26 pages. This is especially impressive in "Lifestyles", given how diverse non-bird dinos were ( https://archive.ph/i7ZTT ). On a related note, Library Journal claims that "the text seems overly abbreviated and sometimes unenlightening", using the 1st sentence of the Lambert quote as an example ( https://archive.ph/9kaxH ). However, as indicated by the whole of said quote, said claim is either very stupid or very misleading: In reference to "stupid", "everyone likes a good story, and no story is [more enlightening] than the saga of Earth and life on it" ( www.goodreads.com/review/show/5950560092 ); In reference to "misleading", it implies that the text doesn't immediately elaborate on said sentence even though it clearly does.
*Just to clarify, I mean in terms of overall quality for its time.
**In reference to CS, that's saying a lot. The T. rex (which, to quote Weasel, "look[s] like an avocado had sex with an older, more disgusting avocado") is their only truly ugly model. The rest aren't THAT bad, just very derpy.
Quoting Lambert: "Dinosaurs originated from microscopic marine organisms several thousand million years ago. From these evolved true plants and animals. The processes of genetic change and natural selection led to the appearance of new forms of life. In the Palaeozoic era (about 570-248 million years ago) soft-bodied creatures gave rise to fishes with internal bony skeletons. Fishes produced amphibians that walked on land, and in turn gave rise to reptiles. Reptiles dominated land life in later Palaeozoic times. One group of reptiles evolved into archosaurs or “ruling reptiles”. Dinosaurs were archosaurs that ruled the Mesozoic era (about 248-65 million years ago). Many scientists believe that modern birds are descendants of the dinosaurs."
December 28, 2018
My son loves this book and we read it all the time.
September 28, 2019
Dred f
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Mjnnhn
!Nyquil
Chubby
Highlighter
Hugging
Mjnnhn
August 3, 2016
My favourite dino book. Both comprehensive and detailed and holds up surprisingly well even after more than 16 years (which were filled with countless new discoveries in the field of dinosaur paleontology). Without much exaggeration, I can honestly say that "everything I ever wanted to know about dinos, I learned from this book". :-) P.S. One external retrospective review of the book I'd like to recommend can be read here: http://chasmosaurs.blogspot.sk/2011/1...
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews