Digging for Stegosaurus: A Discovery Timeline

by Thomas R. Holtz, Jr., Kathryn N. Clapper (Editor)

You can't miss Stegosaurus's armored plates, but how did such an ancient creature become so recognizable to us? Follow the fascinating story of this dinosaur's discovery, from early clues in England to fossil findings in Colorado, Alberta, and Tanzania. Through a unique timeline format, you'll witness each dig that added a piece to the scientific puzzle, eventually revealing Stegosaurus.

Genres: Nonfiction

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[Kate Matheis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book goes over the timeline of the discovery of stegosaurus fossils. The book talked about how the paleontologists theories about stegosaurus have changed over time. I really liked how the book talked about Cope and Marsh. I read a fictional book by Michael Crichton that was about the real life rivalry of these paleontologists.

[Audrey's Picture Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book offers a lot that other children's science books don't, but it's definitely not for everyone. For a children's science book, this one is remarkably in-depth. It goes into a lot of detail, and I really like the way that it shows the process by which scientists have tried to understand stegosaurus. There's no sense in this book, as there is in many children's science books, that scientists somehow have it all figured out and know everything about the topic in question. It's very honest about the fact that paleontology is a highly speculative field, and that's extremely valuable. That said, it's also the book's biggest flaw as member of the popular science genre. It's easy to drown in details with this book. All said, I'd say that this is an excellent science book--for a very limited audience. The casual reader, and even the casual dinosaur enthusiast, will be bored by page 3. However, the true dinosaur devotee will find a depth of information not usually to be found in books at elementary reading levels.