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The Road to Discovery Guides
Great Day Trips in the Connecticut Valley of the Dinosaurs
Discover the real Jurassic parks of the Connecticut River Valley! Travel back 200 million years, to early in the Age of Dinosaurs. Follow in the footsteps of dinosaurs, explore the dinosaur-bird connection, dinosaur discoveries, dinosaur habitats and more!
253 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 24, 2017
New England isn’t really known for fossils, (except for the famous Peabody Museum in New Haven that houses Othniel Charles Marsh’s dinosaurs, of course). But the Central Valley of Connecticut and Massachusetts actually plays a key role in the development of paleontology in North America. It was here in the early 19th century that mysterious three-toed track impressions were discovered in the red sandstone beds and brought to the attention of the scientific community by geologist Edward Hitchcock. These footprints were the first known evidence of dinosaurs in the New World- although Hitchcock described them as giant bird tracks since word “dinosaur” wouldn’t be coined until a few decades later.
Brendan Hanrahan’s book gives an excellent overview of the history of paleontology in the Connecticut Valley, including short biographies of local paleontologists who have spent their lives studying this unique window in the Mesozoic world. He also describes the various fossils that have been unearthed here- mostly various types of footprints, but there are indeed a few rare partial fossil skeletons to be found such as the “Bones from the Well”, which came from a prosauropod named Anchisaurus.
The last part of the book describes places in the Valley where one can actually see fossils. Special attention is paid to Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill, CT, which showcases the largest and best-preserved trackway in the Valley, not to mention a pretty neat model of Dilophosaurus, the dinosaur which is believed to have created the most famous type of fossil footprints.
I was particularly interested in the sections that discuss how the Valley trackways have been used as evidence of the extinction event that took place at the end of the Triassic which killed off the non-dinosaurian reptiles such as phytosaurs and rauisuchians that dominated the early Mesozoic. This extinction paved the way for dinosaurs, which were actually only a fairly minor group of reptiles in the Triassic, to become the Ruling Reptiles of the Jurassic and Cretaceous.
My only critique of the book is that there are a few points where Hanrahan repeats information we’ve already learned earlier. It sort of seems like he combined several drafts together and didn’t totally comb out the duplicate information. This is a minor criticism, though. Overall, Great Day Trips to the Connecticut Valley of the Dinosaurs (okay, the title is rather cumbersome. Not exactly a book you could mention offhand in a conversation) is an excellent guidebook for anyone interested in the history of paleontology, or anyone looking to learn more about the unique natural history of Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Brendan Hanrahan’s book gives an excellent overview of the history of paleontology in the Connecticut Valley, including short biographies of local paleontologists who have spent their lives studying this unique window in the Mesozoic world. He also describes the various fossils that have been unearthed here- mostly various types of footprints, but there are indeed a few rare partial fossil skeletons to be found such as the “Bones from the Well”, which came from a prosauropod named Anchisaurus.
The last part of the book describes places in the Valley where one can actually see fossils. Special attention is paid to Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill, CT, which showcases the largest and best-preserved trackway in the Valley, not to mention a pretty neat model of Dilophosaurus, the dinosaur which is believed to have created the most famous type of fossil footprints.
I was particularly interested in the sections that discuss how the Valley trackways have been used as evidence of the extinction event that took place at the end of the Triassic which killed off the non-dinosaurian reptiles such as phytosaurs and rauisuchians that dominated the early Mesozoic. This extinction paved the way for dinosaurs, which were actually only a fairly minor group of reptiles in the Triassic, to become the Ruling Reptiles of the Jurassic and Cretaceous.
My only critique of the book is that there are a few points where Hanrahan repeats information we’ve already learned earlier. It sort of seems like he combined several drafts together and didn’t totally comb out the duplicate information. This is a minor criticism, though. Overall, Great Day Trips to the Connecticut Valley of the Dinosaurs (okay, the title is rather cumbersome. Not exactly a book you could mention offhand in a conversation) is an excellent guidebook for anyone interested in the history of paleontology, or anyone looking to learn more about the unique natural history of Connecticut and Massachusetts.
March 5, 2013
I bought this book from the Yale Peabody Museum gift shop. We go there a lot because my son loves dinosaurs. I hoped that this guide would suggest new places to take him. It did not disappoint!
The first half of the book is a short history of paleontology with a focus on CT people and places. The second half devotes one chapter to each local attraction. As you might expect, dinosaur footprints feature prominently since the geology here is not very conducive to bone preservation. It has some great stories and the fact that they involve places I know and visit regularly (like Buckland Hills Mall) really make you feel connected to the history.
I highly recommend this book to all Nutmeggers with an interest in science. I enjoyed this book so much that I've ordered the Connecticut geology guide from the same series.
The first half of the book is a short history of paleontology with a focus on CT people and places. The second half devotes one chapter to each local attraction. As you might expect, dinosaur footprints feature prominently since the geology here is not very conducive to bone preservation. It has some great stories and the fact that they involve places I know and visit regularly (like Buckland Hills Mall) really make you feel connected to the history.
I highly recommend this book to all Nutmeggers with an interest in science. I enjoyed this book so much that I've ordered the Connecticut geology guide from the same series.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews