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Unearthing the Dragon
Here is the book that establishes the revolution in dinosaur science that has occurred in our generation. Dinosaurs are no longer thought of as lizards so much as birds. The transformation can be seen from the first Jurassic Park movie to the recent reconstructions in the BBC series Walking with Dinosaurs in America, where they appear as warm blooded and feathered, attending their young and brooding their nests. This transformation in popular culture is based on excavations at one profoundly important site in China: Liaoning. Here, told by the leading U.S. researcher who has been to the site, Mark Norrell, is the definitive story of that discovery.
Unearthing the Dragon is also a highly personalized account of being in a foreign land with a very different history of science, culture, and everyday social behavior. Fossils are often collected by peasants, not researchers. Local officials are often more swayed by noble and vigorous drinking sessions than reasoned argument. Photographer Mick Ellison gets into various kinds of trouble as Norrell navigates the pair forward through a strange world--and leads readers to a magical world of feathered dinosaurs revealed in the Liaoning formation.
About the Author
MARK NORELL is the Chair and Curator, Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History. He has published extensively in academic journals, including one on the feathered T. Rex in Nature in the fall of 2004, and his research has been frequently reported in national media including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Morning Edition on NPR, BBC stations, Scientific American, and Discover.
Unearthing the Dragon is also a highly personalized account of being in a foreign land with a very different history of science, culture, and everyday social behavior. Fossils are often collected by peasants, not researchers. Local officials are often more swayed by noble and vigorous drinking sessions than reasoned argument. Photographer Mick Ellison gets into various kinds of trouble as Norrell navigates the pair forward through a strange world--and leads readers to a magical world of feathered dinosaurs revealed in the Liaoning formation.
About the Author
MARK NORELL is the Chair and Curator, Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History. He has published extensively in academic journals, including one on the feathered T. Rex in Nature in the fall of 2004, and his research has been frequently reported in national media including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Morning Edition on NPR, BBC stations, Scientific American, and Discover.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published June 9, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 30, 2023
Two of my favorite things: dinosaurs and China! So what's not to love??
Sadly, the answer is "a lot." This book is what in Chinese would be called "bu san bu si," "neither 3 nor 4," or not really one thing or the other. It's not an interesting book on China - Norell's chatty anecdotes are very general ("Chinese eat strange animals and drink a lot!") and sprinkled with no apparent rhyme or reason throughout his story. And as to the dinosaurs, it could just be that I'm getting dumber but I found this way too textbook-y for what is trying to be popular science. A sample paragraph:
In development we can see not just the end products but transformation among these endpoints. What then if we could reshuffle the timing, onset, and developmental rate of structures in the growing organisms? This would provide organisms with a huge pool of variation on which natural selection could later sort...Yet to understand rearrangements, we need to first document changes in developing animals. Some of these changes are simply differential growth of various components of the creature. Documentation of this is called allometry…Changes in allometry have to do with timing, that is, the onset of development of a particular body part, or the rate of developmental changes in relation to some other part of the body. This is called heterochrony.
...zzzzz...what? No! I'm still awake...
There are other problems as well. While the book is also credited to Mick Ellison for "photography and drawings," there's a grand total of just 4-5 drawings in the book, with the rest of the pictures being photos of old smashed-up bones that look like fossil roadkill, giving you no idea what the creature being discussed actually might have looked like. The pictures often appear to be random in placement, too, with captioned pictures of fish on pages devoted to ancient mammals, etc.
That said, there are some interesting bits. If you wade through the science-speak, there is interesting detail on advances in our understanding of the connection between dinosaurs and birds. And there are several truly fascinating anecdotes as well: an explanation on how the lucrative fossil black market is fueled in part by the fallout of China's 'one child' policy, since there is now such an overabundance of single men that this is one of the quicker ways for the local male population to accumulate enough money to afford (or at least entice) a wife. Or the infamous story (already told elsewhere) of National Geographic infamous being duped into featuring the Archaeoraptor fossil, which turned out to be a none-too-believable fraud.
But such sections are too few and way too far between, and so I abandoned this at the halfway point. There are just so many other, better dino books out there, like Brian Switek's Written in Stone, which I'm hoping is even half as good as his excellent My Beloved Brontosaurus.
Sadly, the answer is "a lot." This book is what in Chinese would be called "bu san bu si," "neither 3 nor 4," or not really one thing or the other. It's not an interesting book on China - Norell's chatty anecdotes are very general ("Chinese eat strange animals and drink a lot!") and sprinkled with no apparent rhyme or reason throughout his story. And as to the dinosaurs, it could just be that I'm getting dumber but I found this way too textbook-y for what is trying to be popular science. A sample paragraph:
In development we can see not just the end products but transformation among these endpoints. What then if we could reshuffle the timing, onset, and developmental rate of structures in the growing organisms? This would provide organisms with a huge pool of variation on which natural selection could later sort...Yet to understand rearrangements, we need to first document changes in developing animals. Some of these changes are simply differential growth of various components of the creature. Documentation of this is called allometry…Changes in allometry have to do with timing, that is, the onset of development of a particular body part, or the rate of developmental changes in relation to some other part of the body. This is called heterochrony.
...zzzzz...what? No! I'm still awake...
There are other problems as well. While the book is also credited to Mick Ellison for "photography and drawings," there's a grand total of just 4-5 drawings in the book, with the rest of the pictures being photos of old smashed-up bones that look like fossil roadkill, giving you no idea what the creature being discussed actually might have looked like. The pictures often appear to be random in placement, too, with captioned pictures of fish on pages devoted to ancient mammals, etc.
That said, there are some interesting bits. If you wade through the science-speak, there is interesting detail on advances in our understanding of the connection between dinosaurs and birds. And there are several truly fascinating anecdotes as well: an explanation on how the lucrative fossil black market is fueled in part by the fallout of China's 'one child' policy, since there is now such an overabundance of single men that this is one of the quicker ways for the local male population to accumulate enough money to afford (or at least entice) a wife. Or the infamous story (already told elsewhere) of National Geographic infamous being duped into featuring the Archaeoraptor fossil, which turned out to be a none-too-believable fraud.
But such sections are too few and way too far between, and so I abandoned this at the halfway point. There are just so many other, better dino books out there, like Brian Switek's Written in Stone, which I'm hoping is even half as good as his excellent My Beloved Brontosaurus.
September 2, 2018
A fascinating look into the science and the history of the huge bonanza that is the Chinese fossil beds. It's refreshing to read about the stories behind the science, especially the sniping, the mistakes, and the very human foibles of the people involved. Great science book about a huge discovery and its implications about what we know about bird evolution.
August 1, 2017
Uneasy combo of pop-science, travelogue, and photos
This is an odd sort of book, that can't seem to decide quite what to be. It's an uneasy amalgam of travelogue, pop-science, and junior coffee-table picture-book.
I didn't think the book worked very well. The dinosaur pictures are excellent, and dino fans will want to pick up a library copy to eyeball these. The travel photos range from interesting to very odd, but are worth at least a glance. The text that's actually about dinosaurs is pretty interesting, especially the chapter about the National Geographic falling for the faked feathered-dino specimen. The travelogue bits range from pretty good to excruciating. A very scattershot book!
Norell in person is an energetic, enthusiastic guy and a fine speaker. As a pop-science writer... well, I'm glad I just checked this book out from the library. Caveat lector.
This is an odd sort of book, that can't seem to decide quite what to be. It's an uneasy amalgam of travelogue, pop-science, and junior coffee-table picture-book.
I didn't think the book worked very well. The dinosaur pictures are excellent, and dino fans will want to pick up a library copy to eyeball these. The travel photos range from interesting to very odd, but are worth at least a glance. The text that's actually about dinosaurs is pretty interesting, especially the chapter about the National Geographic falling for the faked feathered-dino specimen. The travelogue bits range from pretty good to excruciating. A very scattershot book!
Norell in person is an energetic, enthusiastic guy and a fine speaker. As a pop-science writer... well, I'm glad I just checked this book out from the library. Caveat lector.
January 24, 2019
Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.
Ostensibly about the discovery of feathered dinosaurs and the science surrounding them, this book also contains a fair amount of male-gazey exoticisation of China. It’s full of photographs — more photographs and images than text sometimes — and a large amount of both photos and text is about China. Modern China, that is: the culture Norell ran into when working there, his nights out, his visits to markets, his thoughts on the people, and the shapely feet of young Chinese women. Seriously!
There are some nuggets of useful information in here about feathered dinosaurs, and some gorgeous pictures both of modern China and of dinosaur fossils, but I would honestly skip it. There’s something very gross about the way he treats China and particularly Chinese women: like some kind of tourist attraction.
Ostensibly about the discovery of feathered dinosaurs and the science surrounding them, this book also contains a fair amount of male-gazey exoticisation of China. It’s full of photographs — more photographs and images than text sometimes — and a large amount of both photos and text is about China. Modern China, that is: the culture Norell ran into when working there, his nights out, his visits to markets, his thoughts on the people, and the shapely feet of young Chinese women. Seriously!
There are some nuggets of useful information in here about feathered dinosaurs, and some gorgeous pictures both of modern China and of dinosaur fossils, but I would honestly skip it. There’s something very gross about the way he treats China and particularly Chinese women: like some kind of tourist attraction.
April 14, 2022
*Unearthing the Dragon* is a first-person account by paleontologist Mark Norell, who participated in the analysis of some of the most important feathered dinosaur fossils from the Jehol deposits in Liaoning, China. This is a decidedly popular-level book, and while it makes a strong case for the significance of these fossils for dinosaur paleontology overall, its attempt to balance the narrative of fossil discovery, analysis of the relevant specimens, useful scientific context, the state of the illegal fossil trade, and highlights of intercultural travel proves to be too much, resulting in a scattered book that never quite examines anything in enough detail to truly satisfy. That said, the author's familiar, often humorous tone and his ability to explain complex issues simply make for an entertaining read.
March 1, 2026
I would give this about 3.5 stars. The paleontology is a bit heavy going, but made much more palatable with interspersion of fun anecdotes about traveling and eating in China, and working with Chinese colleagues. And lovely pictures. Even the paleontology was rather interesting, as I knew little about how paleontologists work and come to theories.
Want to Read
August 28, 2020As seen in The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs.
February 7, 2015
This a very intimate look at the science of paleontology in China and the realities of the evolution of what science deems as the current reality.
It definitely approaches the topic of feathered dinosaurs and their relationship to birds as well as theropods with a strong opinion. But, the approach is also one of fascination with our own understanding of the very distant past and what that means for creatures living on Earth today as well as the science behind it.
I thoroughly enjoyed this unique glimpse into China and East Asia - a place of great treasure and learning in paleolithic science that I had virtually no perspective on before this book.
You do need to have a passion for science for this to be a great read - as it becomes very clinical in places. But, I found the stories of life in China, what it meant to be a foreigner doing research there and the day-to-day life of the people they met a wonderful balance.
It definitely approaches the topic of feathered dinosaurs and their relationship to birds as well as theropods with a strong opinion. But, the approach is also one of fascination with our own understanding of the very distant past and what that means for creatures living on Earth today as well as the science behind it.
I thoroughly enjoyed this unique glimpse into China and East Asia - a place of great treasure and learning in paleolithic science that I had virtually no perspective on before this book.
You do need to have a passion for science for this to be a great read - as it becomes very clinical in places. But, I found the stories of life in China, what it meant to be a foreigner doing research there and the day-to-day life of the people they met a wonderful balance.
October 17, 2022
This is about the amazing feathered dinosaur fossils discovered in Liaoning, China around the turn of the millenium. The fossils are preserved in a way that squashes them flat but retains the finest details of feathers, insect legs, and so forth. The discoveries have changed the way we think of dinosaur appearance and activity, from lizard-like to much more birdlike.
The writing wanders around a lot, talking about China, fossil markets, scientific fraud, and the adventure of paleontology as much as the dinosaurs themselves, but the photos of fossils are the highest quality photography and reproductions of any of my books-- think National Geographic style. One of my favorites was a particularly vicious looking primitive tyrannosaur that had feathers on the back of its head and tail. The (claw winged) bird Confuciusornis also had some amazing fossils, including fancy decorative tail feathers. Many of the reconstructions are also lovely.
The writing wanders around a lot, talking about China, fossil markets, scientific fraud, and the adventure of paleontology as much as the dinosaurs themselves, but the photos of fossils are the highest quality photography and reproductions of any of my books-- think National Geographic style. One of my favorites was a particularly vicious looking primitive tyrannosaur that had feathers on the back of its head and tail. The (claw winged) bird Confuciusornis also had some amazing fossils, including fancy decorative tail feathers. Many of the reconstructions are also lovely.
March 6, 2009
Are birds the direct descendants of dinosaurs? Fossilized feathered creatures with dinosaur characteristics were found in China in 2003. Could this have been the link paleontologists needed to connect dinosaurs with today's birds? The answer is not exactly present in the book because new discoveries are always being made. (Also since this was printed in 2005, another discovery of a fossilized feather was made in 2008 by the same team).
The book was actually a mixture of paleontological procedure and politics and a cultural travel guide to China. The book was interesting and informative overall.
The book was actually a mixture of paleontological procedure and politics and a cultural travel guide to China. The book was interesting and informative overall.
March 10, 2013
Absolutely a fascinating story about a bellwether moment in science: the discovery in China that some dinosaurs had feathers, most difficult to fathom. Like most kids. I grew up loving dinosaurs—those terrible lizards—but like lizards they all had scales, not fluffy feathers. Wow.
More later.
More later.
July 13, 2013
A quick read from one paleontologist's POV regarding the potential evolution of feathers based on Chinese fossil beds. Written for the layperson, a quick and entertaining read - part memoir/travelogue and part scientific treatise.
March 17, 2024
I thought I would like this book but I could not finish it. Something about the way the writer speaks of other people just didn't work for me.
January 28, 2009
Amazing work of feathered dinosaurs found in China.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews