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Dinosaur World: Over 1,200 Amazing Dinosaurs, Famous Fossils, and the Latest Discoveries from the Prehistoric Era
Get ready, young paleontologists! With over 1,200 jaw-dropping species, Dinosaur World is your guide to all things prehistoric! Did you know some dinosaurs had feathers? Or that others had full body armor? From humongous herbivores to fearsome carnivores, this book covers everything you’ll ever need to know about dinosaurs. Examine surprising fossil evidence found around the world and discover each species’ adaptations and specializations. You’ll learn all about their attack and defense tools, including retractable claws, serrated teeth, clubbed tails, large horns, sharp spines, and more. Go beyond fan-favorites like the T-rex and the Triceratops and venture into the latest discoveries from the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods. Inside you’ll This visual guide presents the most astounding species, including powerful predators with terrifying jaws and dinos that were only the size of chickens. From killer claws to camouflage, track these fascinating prehistoric species’ evolution through the dinosaur era with the greatest dinosaur book ever. Julius Csotonyi is one of the world's most high profile and talented contemporary scientific illustrators. Csotonyi has considerable academic expertise that contributes to his stunning dynamic art. He has created life-sized dinosaur murals for the Royal Ontario Museum and for the Dinosaur Hall at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and most of the artwork for the new Hall of Paleontology at the HMNS. He has illustrated the nonfiction children's book Prehistoric Predators, Dino World, Bug World, Shark World, Discovering Tigers, Discovering Reptiles, Discovering Bugs, Discovering Whales, and The T. Rex Handbook . He currently lives in Canada.
704 pages, Hardcover
Published February 21, 2023
4 people are currently reading
140 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 5, 2025
Beautiful illustrations, and great overall introductions to all the different types of dinosaurs. Very comprehensive - basically an index of all dinosaur genera (with a weird extra 100+ pages at the end of unclassified genera). Probably good for children. (But no pronounciation guides for dinosaur names, which is common for kids dinosaur books.)
Some minor issues with the text - for example, it would say something like how a species "was an early ceratopsian", but it was from the Late Cretaceous, so how could it be early? And some of the size numbers seemed inaccurate. Some dinosaurs with similar lengths would have wildly different weights, so then I would Google them, and the measurement numbers wouldn't match.
Some minor issues with the text - for example, it would say something like how a species "was an early ceratopsian", but it was from the Late Cretaceous, so how could it be early? And some of the size numbers seemed inaccurate. Some dinosaurs with similar lengths would have wildly different weights, so then I would Google them, and the measurement numbers wouldn't match.
December 26, 2025
It took my husband and I 3 years (on and off) to read this book to TH1, but we did it.
Readability is fairly low since it is literally just a list of dinosaurs - every dinosaur has its own little box with basic information and some get a "fun fact" thrown in. The fun facts were generally pretty interesting so that helped break up the monotony. The last section was the hardest to get through since those are the dino's that hadn't been categorized yet so it was a major slog. But for what it is, it was very well set up and organized. And TH1 liked talking about how when she is a paleontologist, maybe she will be the one to learn more about those dinosaurs.
The illustrations are gorgeous. A lot of dinosaurs are very similar to each other, but it was fun seeing the different variations and artistic renditions.
I read in another book that they are discovering new dinosaurs all the time (I think it averages one every other week? One a week??) In which case this book is outdated! But still a great reference for all dinosaur lovers.
Readability is fairly low since it is literally just a list of dinosaurs - every dinosaur has its own little box with basic information and some get a "fun fact" thrown in. The fun facts were generally pretty interesting so that helped break up the monotony. The last section was the hardest to get through since those are the dino's that hadn't been categorized yet so it was a major slog. But for what it is, it was very well set up and organized. And TH1 liked talking about how when she is a paleontologist, maybe she will be the one to learn more about those dinosaurs.
The illustrations are gorgeous. A lot of dinosaurs are very similar to each other, but it was fun seeing the different variations and artistic renditions.
I read in another book that they are discovering new dinosaurs all the time (I think it averages one every other week? One a week??) In which case this book is outdated! But still a great reference for all dinosaur lovers.
April 10, 2023
This visual guide to the prehistoric era features profiles of more than 1,000 species of dinosaurs with full color illustrations and facts about their size, diet and more.
Reviewer 9
Reviewer 9
September 8, 2024
Mostly good, part 6 ( www.amazon.com/review/R3TKO2OYB6UKCU/... ): 4/5
As you may have noticed, I highly recommend Holtz's "Dinosaurs" ( www.goodreads.com/review/show/3478213840 ), though not as much recently, given the lack of updates since 2015. When I 1st heard about Johnson-Ransom's "Dinosaur World" (henceforth DW), I was hopeful that it'd fill the void in high-quality, family-friendly dino references, given its coverage ("Over 1,200 Amazing Dinosaurs") & paleoart (which I discuss in another review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/3500348586 ). Unfortunately, DW is lacking in the following ways, making it hard to recommend as a full-priced standalone dino reference.*
1) DW may be comprehensive in terms of genus coverage, but not in terms of info about each genus. I can understand wanting to minimize the wordcount (Quoting Naish: "Authors are virtually always writing to fit a limited space. They must keep to wordcount or their work will not be accepted"). However, as you can see in the preview pics, DW is less than minimal (E.g. Compare DW's Bonitasaura info to Holtz's: https://archive.ph/pTa23 ). The "Era It Lived In" parts are especially frustrating, given how easily they could be fixed. At the very least, DW's "Prehistoric Timeline" should include epochs like Holtz's "Geologic Time Scale" so that readers know what Early/Middle/Late means & thus when each genus lived (E.g. Late Cretaceous Bonitasaura lived between 100 & 66 MYA).
2) There are several weird bits of editing & writing throughout DW:
-In reference to editing, this is especially apparent in the profiles (E.g. "1.5 feet" for Kulindadromeus; Should read: "1.5 meters") & the double-page scenes (E.g. "The ankylosaurid"/"Ankylosaurids such as Edmontonia"; Should read: "The ankylosaurian"/"Ankylosaurians such as Edmontonia").
-In reference to writing, this is especially apparent in the Johnson-Ransom quote: For 1, that's not how "TLDR" is meant to be used (Google it); For another, why both "contains" & "this includes"?; Why not just "contains two prominent clades, Ornithischia[...]and Saurischia"?; For yet another, everything in between is a descriptive mess; I don't wanna be too hard on Johnson-Ransom though; He's still young & needs time "to find a conversational style that works when spoken aloud[...]perhaps unique to" him (See the Naish quote below).
-It's also worth mentioning the lack of a glossary, given how many times the same terms are defined (9 times for "cervical vertebrae", including twice on page 260).
In short, I recommend getting & reading DW if you can do so 1) at half price or less, & 2) in conjunction with Naish's work (E.g. Dinopedia, which I reviewed: www.goodreads.com/review/show/4960975366 ), respectively.
*At least the title was changed from "The Greatest Dinosaur Book Ever" (which was WAY too superlative: www.goodreads.com/review/show/3512201621 ).
Quoting Johnson-Ransom: "WHAT IS A DINOSAUR?
TLDR: Expect a lot of scientific terms and classifications!
Dinosaurs were a diverse group of reptiles that came in variable shapes and sizes. Dinosaurs are also archosaurs, a clade (group) that includes birds (still-living dinosaurs) and crocodylians, which are living relatives of dinosaurs. Extinct archosaurs include dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and extinct relatives of crocodylians.
When evaluating their phylogenetics—evolutionary relationships—dinosaurs are classified as avemetatarsalians (“bird feet”), a group of reptiles that includes dinosaurs and pterosaurs.
Within Avemetatarsalia is Ornithodira (“bird necks”), archosaurs that transitioned from a quadrupedal (four-legged) to a bipedal (two-legged) posture. Ornithodira includes birds, other dinosaurs, and pterosaurs. Excluding the pterosaurs, birds and other dinosaurs are classified as dinosauromorphs, a slightly larger group. Birds are dinosaurs!
Dinosauria contains two prominent clades. This includes Ornithischia (“bird hips”) and Saurischia (“lizard hips”)."
Quoting Naish (See "ON BEING A SCIENCE WRITER": https://darrennaish.wordpress.com/pub... ): "My own writing has improved following ruthless and sometimes blunt criticism from editors, colleagues and peers. My advice is to find a conversational style that works when spoken aloud and to know that writing rules we are taught - including those in word-processing software - ruin or derail things that work. Don't be afraid of complex sentence structure, provided you have broken the sentence into appropriate sections. Aim, however, to keep sentences and paragraphs short, and excise redundancy. Learn words and word combinations that are memorable, perhaps unique to you, and which successfully communicate a complex point or idea. And avoid late positioning of the subject within a sentence: critics will accuse you of using 'the passive voice'."
As you may have noticed, I highly recommend Holtz's "Dinosaurs" ( www.goodreads.com/review/show/3478213840 ), though not as much recently, given the lack of updates since 2015. When I 1st heard about Johnson-Ransom's "Dinosaur World" (henceforth DW), I was hopeful that it'd fill the void in high-quality, family-friendly dino references, given its coverage ("Over 1,200 Amazing Dinosaurs") & paleoart (which I discuss in another review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/3500348586 ). Unfortunately, DW is lacking in the following ways, making it hard to recommend as a full-priced standalone dino reference.*
1) DW may be comprehensive in terms of genus coverage, but not in terms of info about each genus. I can understand wanting to minimize the wordcount (Quoting Naish: "Authors are virtually always writing to fit a limited space. They must keep to wordcount or their work will not be accepted"). However, as you can see in the preview pics, DW is less than minimal (E.g. Compare DW's Bonitasaura info to Holtz's: https://archive.ph/pTa23 ). The "Era It Lived In" parts are especially frustrating, given how easily they could be fixed. At the very least, DW's "Prehistoric Timeline" should include epochs like Holtz's "Geologic Time Scale" so that readers know what Early/Middle/Late means & thus when each genus lived (E.g. Late Cretaceous Bonitasaura lived between 100 & 66 MYA).
2) There are several weird bits of editing & writing throughout DW:
-In reference to editing, this is especially apparent in the profiles (E.g. "1.5 feet" for Kulindadromeus; Should read: "1.5 meters") & the double-page scenes (E.g. "The ankylosaurid"/"Ankylosaurids such as Edmontonia"; Should read: "The ankylosaurian"/"Ankylosaurians such as Edmontonia").
-In reference to writing, this is especially apparent in the Johnson-Ransom quote: For 1, that's not how "TLDR" is meant to be used (Google it); For another, why both "contains" & "this includes"?; Why not just "contains two prominent clades, Ornithischia[...]and Saurischia"?; For yet another, everything in between is a descriptive mess; I don't wanna be too hard on Johnson-Ransom though; He's still young & needs time "to find a conversational style that works when spoken aloud[...]perhaps unique to" him (See the Naish quote below).
-It's also worth mentioning the lack of a glossary, given how many times the same terms are defined (9 times for "cervical vertebrae", including twice on page 260).
In short, I recommend getting & reading DW if you can do so 1) at half price or less, & 2) in conjunction with Naish's work (E.g. Dinopedia, which I reviewed: www.goodreads.com/review/show/4960975366 ), respectively.
*At least the title was changed from "The Greatest Dinosaur Book Ever" (which was WAY too superlative: www.goodreads.com/review/show/3512201621 ).
Quoting Johnson-Ransom: "WHAT IS A DINOSAUR?
TLDR: Expect a lot of scientific terms and classifications!
Dinosaurs were a diverse group of reptiles that came in variable shapes and sizes. Dinosaurs are also archosaurs, a clade (group) that includes birds (still-living dinosaurs) and crocodylians, which are living relatives of dinosaurs. Extinct archosaurs include dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and extinct relatives of crocodylians.
When evaluating their phylogenetics—evolutionary relationships—dinosaurs are classified as avemetatarsalians (“bird feet”), a group of reptiles that includes dinosaurs and pterosaurs.
Within Avemetatarsalia is Ornithodira (“bird necks”), archosaurs that transitioned from a quadrupedal (four-legged) to a bipedal (two-legged) posture. Ornithodira includes birds, other dinosaurs, and pterosaurs. Excluding the pterosaurs, birds and other dinosaurs are classified as dinosauromorphs, a slightly larger group. Birds are dinosaurs!
Dinosauria contains two prominent clades. This includes Ornithischia (“bird hips”) and Saurischia (“lizard hips”)."
Quoting Naish (See "ON BEING A SCIENCE WRITER": https://darrennaish.wordpress.com/pub... ): "My own writing has improved following ruthless and sometimes blunt criticism from editors, colleagues and peers. My advice is to find a conversational style that works when spoken aloud and to know that writing rules we are taught - including those in word-processing software - ruin or derail things that work. Don't be afraid of complex sentence structure, provided you have broken the sentence into appropriate sections. Aim, however, to keep sentences and paragraphs short, and excise redundancy. Learn words and word combinations that are memorable, perhaps unique to you, and which successfully communicate a complex point or idea. And avoid late positioning of the subject within a sentence: critics will accuse you of using 'the passive voice'."
December 31, 2024
I read a lot of books about dinosaurs, but none have ever made me want to rewrite and update GURPS DINOSAURS as much as this one.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews