Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Life

DK Smithsonian Handbooks

by Hazel Richardson, Smithsonian Institution (Contributor), D.K. Publishing

The newest addition to the DK Handbooks series, Smithsonian Handbook to Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals features detailed profiles of 200 dinosaur species, full-color illustrations and photographs showing actual excavation sites.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Reference, History, Dinosaurs, Animals, Nature

223 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Hazel Richardson is a science author and editor, with a background in genetic research. She has written 16 books, including 4 international best-sellers.

Reviews

[Afton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life, by Hazel Richardson, was the most beautiful book I have ever read. It’s stuffed with interesting dinosaur facts, incredibly detailed diagrams about the dinosaurs, well-structured information, and articulate timelines. One specific dinosaur I loved reading about was the Carnotaurus because its arms are so puny, it was hilarious. For such a big and ferocious dinosaur, it was funny to see the wacky proportions. One of the most goofy-looking dinosaurs was the Therizinosaurus because its name means “scythe lizard” and it looks like a 40-year-old zebra chicken. It was also really fascinating to see the many different types of ankylosauruses. It really helped show the beauty and mechanics of evolution. Oh my goodness, I was in heaven when I got to the Cretaceous period because it started with the big carnivores. Overall, I’d give this book 100 out of 5, but since that’s not possible, I’ll give it a 5 out of 5. I would recommend this book to any dinosaur-loving people out there.

[Rhys Causon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like this needed a pronunciation guide for more than the names of the creatures spoken about in this book. I was struggling to understand how family groups would be pronounced personally.

But other than that I enjoyed this book and even though this sells itself on Dinosaurs predominantly there are other eras of life spoken about. Even though it can be a bit samey if you binge read the earlier sections.

And I would say that if you’re a fan of prehistoric life documentaries you may know a lot of this information already as it is, pardon the pun, very bare bones with general information. Guess it can be used as a launching pad for finding more information on what captures your imagination.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice updated renditions of many dinosaurs, sea and flying reptiles. Skips over the Paleozoic, while the section on Cenozoic is very short, so it loses some points on these. Two pager summaries of each Period don't do sufficient justice of course, but the focus here is as a field guide to extinct species, not a detailed account of evolutionary history. The illustrations of mammals are poor compared to the dinosaurs, looking blocky and oddly shaped at times.

[Max D'onofrio · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a big book about Dinosaurs and other prehistoric life. Lots of cool pictures! What isn't to like? (This may or may not be for kids...but who cares.)

[ReadingSloph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely what it says on the tin. Exactly what I wanted and I was just so excited to see the amazing and stupid dinosaurs that existed.

[Heather S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

great field guide

[Mrs. DL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely thorough yet still approachable, not solely focused on the dinosaurs (which I appreciate a lot).

[londra ☻ · Rating 4 out of 5]

dinosaurs are so cool like what the hell

[Robert Bodea · Rating 5 out of 5]

O carte minunată, care prezintă cu măiestrie lumea preistorică.

[Hydre Lana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Resumo impresiones:

✔️POSITIVO

-El libro está genial para cualquier persona que tenga interés en la paleontología y animales de otras eras.

-Los animales están representados con un paleoarte muy conseguido.

-Las descripciones son escuetas y concisas para dar cuatro pinceladas y que el lector entusiasmado se pueda hacer una idea del comportamiento, alimentación o hábitos del bichillo, así como en la época en que vivió o cuánto medía, así como la especie o el subgrupo o clado.

- Hacia el final del libro se encuentran los nombres de otros animales prehistoricos que no han podido tener un hueco en el libro.

- También incluye un glosario de términos técnicos utilizados en el libro y que pueden ser de interés para otros libros de la misma temática.

-La ilusión que me ha hecho ver a Archie a doble pagina y a todo color, a Rexy con plumas en el dorso y a Titanis a todo color.

❌NEGATIVO

-La maquetación, edición y corrección del libro. Me he encontrado páginas en las que falta el nombre del animal, otras con faltas de ortografía, en la portada hay un Nothosaurus que en realidad es un Megalosaurus (si se hace caso al interior del libro), errores de puntuación y de traducción. En fin, un desastre la editorial.

-Que no se haya incluido una página al maravilloso Boralopelta.

En conclusión, el libro es genial pero el trabajo de la editorial lo desmerece.

[Rebecca Thomason · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 2 year old loves Dinosaur Train and sings this song with dinosaurs A-Z. When I was a kid, we only learned about maybe 20 dinosaurs, so I got this book to figure out what my daughter knows that I don't. This books has several errors and a couple instances where the images don't exactly match the descriptions, but it was a great starting point for me. Now I want to go find a more recent and more thorough encyclopedia of the Mesozoic and keep going. My little paleontologist enjoys all the extra stuff I can now show her.

[Asyraf]

...

[Juan Lopez]

its a great book about dinosaurs and their amazing success