Dinosaur Behavior: An Illustrated Guide

by Michael J. Benton OBE FRSE, Bob Nicholls (Illustrator)

A stunningly illustrated guide to these extraordinary creatures from a world-renowned paleontologist

Paleobiology has advanced from a speculative subject to a cutting-edge science. Today, researchers are applying the latest forensic technologies to the fossil record, revealing startling new insights into the lives of dinosaurs. This illustrated guide explores the behavior, evolution, physiology, and extinction of dinosaurs, taking readers inside the mysterious world of these marvelous animals. With specially commissioned illustrations by Bob Nicholls, Dinosaur Behavior explains how the dinosaurs lived and courted, fought and fed, signaled and interacted with each other, and much more.

Genres: Dinosaurs, Nonfiction, Palaeontology, Science, Nature, Natural History, Biology

224 pages, Hardcover

Published October 31, 2023

Reviews

[looneybooks79 · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://looneybooks79.blog/2024/12/14...

Dinosaurussen! Ze blijven tot de verbeelding spreken van heel wat mensen en vooral kinderen. Hoe leefden die gigantische dieren? Wat waren hun gewoonten? Wat aten ze? Hoe bewogen ze? Hoe konden deze giganten op onze aardbol overleven?

Dat dino’s een algemene term is die theropoden, sauropoden of pterosauriërs omvatten (onder andere) en dat in tegenstelling tot populaire media niet elke soort in dezelfde tijd leefde maar verspreid was over miljoenen jaren en heel wat veranderingen van zowel de diersoorten en hoe de omstandigheden op dat moment waren, kan je heel kort in dit boek lezen maar om daar dieper op in te gaan verwijs ik onder andere naar het boek van Melanie During, De laatste lente van de dinosauriërs. (En er zal zeker ook in het andere boek van Michael J. Benton en dat van Steve Brusatte meer info over staan maar die boeken las ik -voorlopig- nog niet).

De paleontoloog Michael J. Benton verkent dan ook in detail de gedragingen van de voorhistorische dieren, hun evolutie, fysiologie en hoe ze uitstierven. Dit aan de hand en begeleid door prachtige illustraties van Bob Nicholls, een paleokunstenaar.

Dus als je benieuwd bent hoe dinosaurussen leefden, waar hun habitat zich vooral bevond, hoe en wat ze aten, hoe ze paarden, hoe ze bewogen, met elkaar omgingen en of er iets uit de boeken van Michael Crichton en de verfilmingen (en vele sequels) klopt, dan is dit boek voor jou. Op een wetenschappelijke maar begrijpelijke manier wordt dit allemaal geïllustreerd uitgelegd met de nodige duidelijke uitleg in zeven uitgebreide hoofdstukken. Je zal nooit meer naar een T-Rex of Spinosaurus op dezelfde manier kijken!

Dit is voor de fans van paleontologie maar eveneens voor zij die gek zijn op prehistorische dieren en zich graag vergapen (zo ben ik dan vooral) aan deze prachtige dieren, dan is dit boek het ideale boek voor jou of voor de persoon aan wie je nog dringend een geschenkje moet doen!

Neem vooral de tijd om dit boek te ontdekken, om op een rustige manier alles tot je te laten doordringen en geniet van de prachtige tekeningen die Nicholls maakte. Waan je in het Perma-, Krijt-, Jura- of Triastijdperk en ga op zoek naar pootafdrukken, botten of fossielen van deze voorlopers van de dieren die wij vandaag aanschouwen of beter gezegd de voorouders van het dagelijks ei leggend kippetje!

En de moeilijk uit te spreken namen… die neem je er gewoon bij, nietwaar? Struikel maar eens goed over die ‘tongue twisters’ 😉

[LG (A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers, in fairly brief chapters, dinosaur physiology, locomotion, senses and intelligence, diets, and social behavior, with mentions of specific research or studies that contributed to what we know about dinosaurs and how they lived their lives. Overall, this is an accessible read intended for teens and general audiences.

There were times I wished Benton had gone into more detail or spent more time on certain topics. In general, though, I really enjoyed this. I already knew some of what it covered from having read other related books, but there were quite a few details that were new to me, and Benton did a good job covering it all in a way that was interesting and easy to follow.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

[Mark Jeffs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the place to start with diving into the science of what we know of how dinosaurs behaved. The book is very accessible. Benton summarises complex studies in short paragraphs. Teaming up with the palaeoartist Bob Nichols was a great move. The illustrations bring this book to life. I really enjoyed this book and will be using some of its ideas and structure in explaining dinosaur behaviours to the public.

Is it technical and challenging for more studious readers? No. That was not the goal of this book. Was it enjoyable, informative and accessible? Yes. Great book.

[Herman Diaz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nicholls deserves better ( www.amazon.com/review/R35UXTR7DL4YAA/... ): 2/5

As far as I know, Chapter 4 of Naish/Barrett's "Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved" (which I reviewed: www.goodreads.com/review/show/3505614509 ) is the best summary of dino behavior, in large part because of Naish's writing. To quote Naish ( https://darrennaish.wordpress.com/wp-... ), "writing of any sort is a slow business. Everything takes forever. Most authors we consider good and trustworthy take time to generate content, sometimes a lot of time. Authors who can generate many thousands of words a day[...]are either truly remarkable people, unlike the rest of us, or are churning out shallow, low-quality work that will not be appreciated or used down the line." Unfortunately, Benton's popular work is mostly the latter. This has become especially apparent in recent years with the back-to-back publication of "Dinosaurs Rediscovered: The Scientific Revolution in Paleontology", "Dinosaurs: New Visions of a Lost World", & "Dinosaur Behavior: An Illustrated Guide" (henceforth DB). In this review, I list the 4 main reasons why I think DB is especially shallow & low quality.

1) According to "The Inquisitive Biologist" ( https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2023... ), "serious palaeontology buffs might find the contents here somewhat superficial." I don't know if I qualify as a serious paleo buff, but "somewhat superficial" is a very diplomatic way to put it, especially when you're comparing DB to Naish/Barrett's book. For example, compare DB's physiology chapter (I.e. Chapter 2: https://web.archive.org/web/202402191... ) to Naish/Barrett's physiology section (1st half: https://archive.ph/2UWy9 ) (2nd half: https://archive.ph/YR5ei ): The former "sets the pace for everything else", yet is such a slog that I find myself thinking, "How can one say so much YET so little?";* The latter is the shortest section of Chapter 4, yet is such a joy that I find myself re-reading it & thinking, "How can one say so much IN so little?"

2) DB is full of misleading/wrong things, especially in the sidebars (E.g. "An Edmontosaurus carcass has floated out to sea in the Early Cretaceous warm seas on the coast of Brazil[...]"). The Naish/Barrett quote sums up the most egregious main text example. DB doesn't even bother "to state up front that the term ‘dinosaur’ is being used as a synonym for ‘non-bird dinosaur’", but simply treats it as normal.

3) Similar to Pim's "Dinosaurs―The Grand Tour", I sometimes find myself reading DB & thinking, "Is the problem more about text or writing?" ( www.goodreads.com/review/show/5768799660 ). The Benton quote may be the most egregious example: On the 1 hand, Benton might mean that Microraptor is both related to Deinonychus & from USA; If so, that's not right (I.e. It's only known from China); On the other hand, he might mean that it's a relative of USA's Deinonychus; If so, why not simply say that?; Also, said dinos being related is stated 3 times in the span of 2 chapters; Also also, what the heck does he mean by "flapping all four of its wings"?

4) Diagram illustrations are usually too small to count towards the overall rating. However, DB's design makes the diagrams more prominent, which I wouldn't mind if their illustrations weren't shameless rip-offs of more famous reconstructions, just plain outdated/abominable, or some combination of both. The shameless rip-offs of Leonello Calvetti's abominable T. rex & Triceratops (which are shameless rip-offs of the outdated "Jurassic Park" T. rex & Dinamation Triceratops), the "Jurassic World Evolution" Pachycephalosaurus, Pixel-shack's "DK 2003" Ankylosaurus ( https://web.archive.org/web/202406170... ), the JP3 raptor, & Carl Buell's "rendering of the hypothetical placental ancestor" ( https://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blo... ) may be the most egregious examples ( https://archive.ph/3U802 ). It's a shame Nicholls's paleoart has to associate with them, all the more reason to get Naish/Barrett's book (especially the newer editions, which feature some of Nicholls's best work: https://tetzoo.com/blog/2024/2/13/thi... ).

*In retrospect, I shouldn't be surprised, given my previous Benton book reviews ("Walking With Dinosaurs: Fascinating Facts": www.goodreads.com/review/show/3490240441 ) ("Dinosaurs: Living Monsters of the Past": www.goodreads.com/review/show/3483392689 ). I guess I thought he'd put more effort into his recent books, given their coverage of his technical work.

Quoting Naish/Barrett: "The inclusion of birds within dinosaurs makes it difficult to make generalizations about dinosaurs as a whole. When talking about predatory dinosaurs, for example, are we discussing owls, hawks and falcons as well as Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus? And when discussing dinosaur extinction, are we referring to the demise of dodos and passenger pigeons?
Palaeontologists get around this problem in several ways. A solution used in some books is to state up front that the term ‘dinosaur’ is being used as a synonym for ‘non-bird dinosaur’. This might be convenient, but it's inaccurate — the fact that birds really are dinosaurs is so important that we should deliberately think of them, not ignore them, whenever we hear the word ‘dinosaur’."

Quoting Benton: "Let’s look at Microraptor. This little dinosaur, a relative of Deinonychus from the United States, had birdlike flight feathers on its arms and legs, and recent calculations show it could fly, flapping all four of its wings. How do we know it had feathers? The fossils show them clearly, and these allow aerodynamics experts to work out its effective wing area, and it turns out it could flap its wings and power through the air. We even know it had black, iridescent feathers."

[Ron Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recommend this book for anyone interested in the evolution of dinosaur anatomy, behavior and of their evolution. The chapters are short, packed with information and fascinating for anyone (like me) with a lifetime interest in those creatures that dominated the lands of earth for nearly 180 million years.

The book seems geared for high school or early college age individuals interested in paleontology.

[The Inquisitive Biologist · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a handsomely illustrated book that offers an accessible, easy-to-read introduction to dinosaur behaviour and how it is studied. Read my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2023...

[Travis Wise · Rating 3 out of 5]

It covers most questions you’d ever have on dinosaurs, in a high level way through dozens of different articles. But these types of books—of which Princeton has published a number of, animal-wise—with this type of narrative-defying format, just don’t lend themselves to great readability. It is pretty though.

[Umar · Rating 5 out of 5]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[Alex T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating 3.5/5

Interesting enough. Did teach me a few new things. I'm not mega interested in dinosaurs these days but I do pick up a book about them from time to time just to stay informed on newer developments. This book definitely had some neat new information and pretty illustrations, but I'd be lying if I said it totally hooked me.