What do you think?
Rate this book
The Dinosaur Heresies
The Dinosaur Heresies (Penguin Science) [Paperback] Bakker, Robert
481 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
56 people are currently reading
2821 people want to read
About the author
Robert T. Bakker
24 books146 followersBakker was born in Bergen County, New Jersey. He attributes his interest in dinosaurs to his reading an article in the September 7, 1953 issue of Life magazine. He graduated from Ridgewood High School in 1963.
At Yale University, Bakker studied under John Ostrom, an early proponent of the new view of dinosaurs, and later gained a PhD at Harvard. He began by teaching anatomy at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and Earth and Space Sciences, where future artist Gregory S. Paul worked and collaborated informally under his guidance. Most of his field work has been done in Wyoming, especially at Como Bluff, but he has ranged as far as Mongolia and South Africa in pursuit of dinosaur habitats.
At Yale University, Bakker studied under John Ostrom, an early proponent of the new view of dinosaurs, and later gained a PhD at Harvard. He began by teaching anatomy at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and Earth and Space Sciences, where future artist Gregory S. Paul worked and collaborated informally under his guidance. Most of his field work has been done in Wyoming, especially at Como Bluff, but he has ranged as far as Mongolia and South Africa in pursuit of dinosaur habitats.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
March 21, 2015
In which Bob Bakker uses self-proclaimed heresy to debunk orthodox dinosaur theory, systematically dismantling our age-old perception of dinosaurs as trundling zombie-like lizards, unsuccessful as a species despite millions of years of planet-wide dominance eradicated by an extinction-level event, and replaces it with our contemporary understanding of the creatures as vibrant, warm-blooded creatures more closely related on the tree of life to birds than reptiles.
Accomplished by addressing what Bakker considered glaring inconsistencies in a monolithic and untouchable set of purported untestable hypotheses with simple questions (e.g., how would a cold-blooded brachiosaurus pump blood all the way to its head? Answer: it probably couldn't, thus, brachiosaurus was warm-blooded--though this is not the only, nor the strongest, case for warm bloodedness). Bakker demonstrates his acumen by seeking dinosaur behavioral answers through more than mere observation of the place where the bones were found, utilizing comparative physiology to prove duckbill dinosaurs were not water-loving swimmers; debunking dinosaur behavior by presenting the common methods of fossilization, how those processes sometimes distort our understanding of dinosaur environment, and methodologies to determine the type of environment in which the dinosaur perished; espoused the possibility of dinosaur gizzards, as similar to birds and alligators; and many, many more that have shaped our current understanding of how dinosaurs lived.
This work is seismic in its role of toppling existing dinosaur tropes and raising new theories in their place--or, at least, building and stressing the tandem work of Bakker and his mentor, John Ostrom, and even the discarded relationship between dinosaurs and birds identified by Thomas Henry Huxley 100 years earlier. In doing so, Bakker makes a universal contribution to critical thought, as all those who challenge the status quo must:
Thanks to Bakker, the chunky sauropod and upright Tyrannosaur are no longer models of our understanding, overturning that long-held belief by revisiting the work of scientists who determined dinosaur hips were more closely related to birds than lizards yet clung stubbornly to the presumption of dinosaurs as giant lizards though the truth stared them in the face.
Now we have dinosaurs that are lithe and clever, thoroughly dominant in their era, therapods (bird relatives, such as deinonychus, troodon, and even the tyrannosaurs) that are bird-like in their behavior, colorful and, in some cases, feathered too.
Bakker also illustrated the book himself, using pencil drawings from his notebook, belying a second elite skill. It seems almost unfair that he is able to articulate his knowledge of dinosaurs both in text and illustration. My own drawing skills rank somewhere below wretched, possibly not even on the spectrum of "skill", and here my reverence turns a bit toward envy.
Jiminy Crickets. He probably gives free harp concerts in his spare time, too.
Almost 30 years, and three Jurassic Park movies (which have their own errors) have passed since the publication of Bakker's book, and in that time his heresies have gained serious traction. It's visible everywhere dinosaurs are present, in media as well as museums. Dinosaur skeletons have been reworked to match an appropriate arrangement of the hips (i.e., the pitched forward rather than upright stance of most therapods and other bipedal dinosaurs) and, apart from a few anthropomorphized pre-school dinosaurs and flying reptiles, modern educational programs reflect a colorful, feathered family of dinosaurs.
It's doubtful many people maintain an understanding of dinosaurs as I remember them as a child, and that's a good thing. It's possible these heresies-turned-theories will someday be challenged in the same way Bakker challenged dinosaur orthodoxy in a manner that made the hypotheses he tested seem absolutely absurd. But Bakker's own theories are so thoroughly realized, crossing the boundaries of geology, paleontology, comparative physiology, and more, it would take an even more colossal and comprehensive effort than Bakker made. To suggest the possibility of something of that scope occurring, however, strikes me as, well, heretical.
Accomplished by addressing what Bakker considered glaring inconsistencies in a monolithic and untouchable set of purported untestable hypotheses with simple questions (e.g., how would a cold-blooded brachiosaurus pump blood all the way to its head? Answer: it probably couldn't, thus, brachiosaurus was warm-blooded--though this is not the only, nor the strongest, case for warm bloodedness). Bakker demonstrates his acumen by seeking dinosaur behavioral answers through more than mere observation of the place where the bones were found, utilizing comparative physiology to prove duckbill dinosaurs were not water-loving swimmers; debunking dinosaur behavior by presenting the common methods of fossilization, how those processes sometimes distort our understanding of dinosaur environment, and methodologies to determine the type of environment in which the dinosaur perished; espoused the possibility of dinosaur gizzards, as similar to birds and alligators; and many, many more that have shaped our current understanding of how dinosaurs lived.
This work is seismic in its role of toppling existing dinosaur tropes and raising new theories in their place--or, at least, building and stressing the tandem work of Bakker and his mentor, John Ostrom, and even the discarded relationship between dinosaurs and birds identified by Thomas Henry Huxley 100 years earlier. In doing so, Bakker makes a universal contribution to critical thought, as all those who challenge the status quo must:
Old theories--like the reptilian nature of dinosaurs--are accepted like old friends of the family. You don't yell at old Aunt Cecilia. So hundred-year-old dinosaur theories live on without being questioned, and too often they are assumed to be totally correct. Even when such theory is caught in an error, it's likely to be excused.
Traditional dinosaur theory is full of short circuits. Like the antiquated wiring in a overaged house, the details sputter and burn out when specific parts are tested."
Thanks to Bakker, the chunky sauropod and upright Tyrannosaur are no longer models of our understanding, overturning that long-held belief by revisiting the work of scientists who determined dinosaur hips were more closely related to birds than lizards yet clung stubbornly to the presumption of dinosaurs as giant lizards though the truth stared them in the face.
Now we have dinosaurs that are lithe and clever, thoroughly dominant in their era, therapods (bird relatives, such as deinonychus, troodon, and even the tyrannosaurs) that are bird-like in their behavior, colorful and, in some cases, feathered too.
Bakker also illustrated the book himself, using pencil drawings from his notebook, belying a second elite skill. It seems almost unfair that he is able to articulate his knowledge of dinosaurs both in text and illustration. My own drawing skills rank somewhere below wretched, possibly not even on the spectrum of "skill", and here my reverence turns a bit toward envy.
Jiminy Crickets. He probably gives free harp concerts in his spare time, too.
Almost 30 years, and three Jurassic Park movies (which have their own errors) have passed since the publication of Bakker's book, and in that time his heresies have gained serious traction. It's visible everywhere dinosaurs are present, in media as well as museums. Dinosaur skeletons have been reworked to match an appropriate arrangement of the hips (i.e., the pitched forward rather than upright stance of most therapods and other bipedal dinosaurs) and, apart from a few anthropomorphized pre-school dinosaurs and flying reptiles, modern educational programs reflect a colorful, feathered family of dinosaurs.
It's doubtful many people maintain an understanding of dinosaurs as I remember them as a child, and that's a good thing. It's possible these heresies-turned-theories will someday be challenged in the same way Bakker challenged dinosaur orthodoxy in a manner that made the hypotheses he tested seem absolutely absurd. But Bakker's own theories are so thoroughly realized, crossing the boundaries of geology, paleontology, comparative physiology, and more, it would take an even more colossal and comprehensive effort than Bakker made. To suggest the possibility of something of that scope occurring, however, strikes me as, well, heretical.
August 25, 2015
Dr. Robert Bakker has a clear and literate writing style that makes a reader with several graduate degrees less than he has understand the concepts of mass extinctions, dinosaur anatomy, and other advanced topics. It is easy to easy why this has become a seminal book. The work may be a bit dated and I'm not entirely sure if any subsequent discoveries have refuted his theories but this was a great read for me. This book is essentially a compilation of several of his graduate theses but I truly envy on how he's able to bridge the gap between his readers despite using technical terminologies.
Although this book is almost three decades old, it is one of my favorite reads this year.
Although this book is almost three decades old, it is one of my favorite reads this year.
January 2, 2011
Bakker brings forth interesting theories about the dinosaurs ranging from whether or not they were endothermic, if they had feathers, whether they are the ancestors of modern birds, and their extinction 65 million years ago. Bakker has an interesting sense of humor, illustrates the book himself with accurate and detailed pictures, and makes what could be considered heavy scientific theory interesting and readable for the average person. At the time when this book was first published in the mid-1980's, Bakker's theories and ideas were still considered quite controversial. However, in the last 20 years, most of the ideas he puts forth in the book are now considered to be at the forefront of paleontology and are generally accepted throughout the larger scientific community. I really enjoyed reading this book and think anybody with an interest in dinosaurs or birds would also be interested in it.
February 5, 2016
Dinosaurs
I love Dinosaurs!
March 7, 2022
Robert T. Bakker is reputed to have inspired the character of the pioneering paleontologist played by Sam Neill in Jurassic Park. This book - written when many scientists still regarded dinosaurs as cold-blooded, slow-moving behemoths - assembles the evidence for the then-controversial notion that the dinos were warm-blooded and fast-moving.
Nearly 40 years have passed since the book was published, and what once was considered controversial or even heretical now has become the accepted wisdom. A great deal of new information has come to light since then, and it would be interesting to hear Bakker's views on the current state of paleontological knowledge. As it is, the book has become dated by developments over this time.
Surprisingly, the self-declared iconoclast Bakker contended that another new idea that was taking paleontology by storm at the time - the theory that the last dinosaurs were killed off by a catastrophic meteor impact - was wrong. He argued instead that the dinosaurs perished when new land bridges between the continents appeared and enabled invasive species and epidemic diseases to spread and run rampant. This argument is not persuasive. When a new species takes over an ecosystem it does not lead to the extinction of the entire ecosystem. Rather, the invading species and those existing species that are not affected by it survive and thrive. Further, Bakker notes that the extinction event affected even the species of plankton fossilized in rocks laid down at the end of the Cretaceous Period. It seems highly unlikely that invasive species and diseases preying upon or sickening large dinosaurs would have the same impact on the smallest members of an ecosystem. Once again, it would be interesting to hear Bakker's views on this subject in light of new information developed over the past few decades, including the discovery of the massive impact crater created at the end of the Cretaceous, which is located off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Central America.
Nearly 40 years have passed since the book was published, and what once was considered controversial or even heretical now has become the accepted wisdom. A great deal of new information has come to light since then, and it would be interesting to hear Bakker's views on the current state of paleontological knowledge. As it is, the book has become dated by developments over this time.
Surprisingly, the self-declared iconoclast Bakker contended that another new idea that was taking paleontology by storm at the time - the theory that the last dinosaurs were killed off by a catastrophic meteor impact - was wrong. He argued instead that the dinosaurs perished when new land bridges between the continents appeared and enabled invasive species and epidemic diseases to spread and run rampant. This argument is not persuasive. When a new species takes over an ecosystem it does not lead to the extinction of the entire ecosystem. Rather, the invading species and those existing species that are not affected by it survive and thrive. Further, Bakker notes that the extinction event affected even the species of plankton fossilized in rocks laid down at the end of the Cretaceous Period. It seems highly unlikely that invasive species and diseases preying upon or sickening large dinosaurs would have the same impact on the smallest members of an ecosystem. Once again, it would be interesting to hear Bakker's views on this subject in light of new information developed over the past few decades, including the discovery of the massive impact crater created at the end of the Cretaceous, which is located off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Central America.
December 6, 2018
A seminal work that challenged the pervading beliefs about dinosaurs at the time: that they are cold-blooded, slow-moving, dim-witted reptiles. Immaculately researched and presented by a luminary in his field, Dr. Bakker still made his theories and their explanations easily accessible to lay readers. Possibly most dramatically and most memorably, Dr. Bakker was among the first (if not actually the very first) to famously and brazenly declare dinosaurs most decidedly unextinct, a radical-at-the-time proposition now universally accepted by paleontologists. (Hint: Hello my little chickadees! Dinosaur want a cracker?)
While The Dinosaur Heresies is now obviously a bit out of date, it stands as a milestone in dinosaur research. It's also a gorgeous book, brimming with illustrations, photographs, art, charts, diagrams, and what-have-you (like, multiple images on every page!), printed on beautiful, thick, glossy paper and bound in a substantial hardback.
While The Dinosaur Heresies is now obviously a bit out of date, it stands as a milestone in dinosaur research. It's also a gorgeous book, brimming with illustrations, photographs, art, charts, diagrams, and what-have-you (like, multiple images on every page!), printed on beautiful, thick, glossy paper and bound in a substantial hardback.
May 10, 2012
Parasaurolophus trumpeted and Triceratops bellowed their siren songs and I couldn't help myself. I had to read this book again.
Although this book was published in 1986, it holds up very well in my opinion. Dr. Bakker's writing is clear, concise and many times humorous. His drawings also give life to the dinosaurs and other critters he writes about. This is one of those books that inspires this geek's imagination every time I read it.
My much beloved and battered copy is covered in notes, doodles and cartoons. It is also nearly covered in tape to keep the pages from falling out. Can I give any higher praise than that?
Although this book was published in 1986, it holds up very well in my opinion. Dr. Bakker's writing is clear, concise and many times humorous. His drawings also give life to the dinosaurs and other critters he writes about. This is one of those books that inspires this geek's imagination every time I read it.
My much beloved and battered copy is covered in notes, doodles and cartoons. It is also nearly covered in tape to keep the pages from falling out. Can I give any higher praise than that?
August 16, 2023
Except for the out of date bits about dinosaur extinction and triceratops, still one of the best books on dinosaurs
February 22, 2011
Well written and extremely thought provoking. The author suggeststhat much of what we believe about dinosaurs is based on a flawed foundation from 100, 200 years ago. This is not a dig on our past scientists, but a realization that so much of our basic ideas were limited by the tools of their time. Unlike many modern applied sciences, there was no reason to correct some of the basic premises (i.e., if you incorrectly assume that dinosaurs were cold blooded, nothing bad happens. However, if you screw up the Bernouli Principal, that airplane is going to crash! In other words, there is an immediate incentive to get some things right, but not other things.)
Bakker's approach seems to follow the premise that the laws of physics and the rules of physiology do not change over the eons. If a certain characteristics point to warm bloodedness now, they would also indicate warm bloodedness 65 million years ago.
Then again, maybe its just a theory.
Bakker's approach seems to follow the premise that the laws of physics and the rules of physiology do not change over the eons. If a certain characteristics point to warm bloodedness now, they would also indicate warm bloodedness 65 million years ago.
Then again, maybe its just a theory.
June 16, 2013
This book was published in the 80's, so it's pretty outdated now in terms of dinosaur species. However, Robert Bakker was the first to put forth the notion that dinosaurs might have been warm blooded and not reptiles at all, which changed everything we thought we knew. Because of his "heretical theories", we now know that dinosaurs were indeed warm-blooded and that birds are direct descendants from them! Being a huge dinosaur nerd, I had to go back to the original source and learn how he supported this now-accepted theory.
This was an extremely informative book that didn't read like a textbook at all. Dr. Bakker clearly has a sense of humor, and it made for a fun read. I love that people have taken his theory and ran with it, giving us amazing information on dinosaurs that we would have never had before he wrote this.
This was an extremely informative book that didn't read like a textbook at all. Dr. Bakker clearly has a sense of humor, and it made for a fun read. I love that people have taken his theory and ran with it, giving us amazing information on dinosaurs that we would have never had before he wrote this.
April 21, 2015
An oldie but a goody, enjoyed this book though Bakker seems to be dead set on calling Apatosaurus by the well known but incorrect name of Brontosaurus. Understand his reasoning about honouring Marsh but it was distracting.
July 23, 2023
This is one of the books that Bakker wrote to convince the general dinosaur-loving public that his beloved dinosaurs were warm-blooded. Are warm-blooded, as today's birds are dinosaurs. As a child, I was a member of that general dinosaur-loving public, and I was convinced. I am still convinced, even though some of Bakker's many arguments may be scientifically problematic. The main thesis survives and today continues to flourish, the thesis that extinct dinosaurs of the Mesozoic were warm-blooded, active, dynamic, charismatic megafauna of their day, just as birds and mammals are today. I am even more convinced than Bakker was at that time, as I react to his many fine illustrations in this book with "those dinosaurs should be feathered". (they are mostly naked and scaly in this book's illustrations). But overall, as witnessed in popular media such as Jurassic Park and Walking with Dinosaurs, and countless other films and books, the general dinosaur-loving public does indeed now view them as active, dynamic, and even more charismatic than before. Bakker's crusade is a success, both scientifically and culturally.
April 9, 2019
When I was a kid back in the 1970s, dinosaurs were tail-dragging beasts that lumbered across a swampy landscape with spewing volcanoes in the distance. They were invariably gray or green, cold-blooded, and they were most certainly dead. In the late 80s that view changed, and shortly thereafter the movie Jurassic Park showed us some fearsome and fast-moving bird-like monsters that dined on lawyers. I like the newer version much better!
Apparently, this was the book that challenged the old view and presented dinosaurs in a much different light. Bakker presents a very compelling case (at least for a non-paleontologist like myself) that they were warm-blooded and very likely the ancestors of modern day birds. He does this by looking at bone structures and where muscles attached, wear and tear on teeth, and footprints (among many other things), and while I'm not a paleontologist, I still found it very understandable. The book is heavily illustrated (by the author) which helps, too. And although the book was written thirty years ago, and much of his argument seems to have already become accepted, I found it a very enjoyable book.
Apparently, this was the book that challenged the old view and presented dinosaurs in a much different light. Bakker presents a very compelling case (at least for a non-paleontologist like myself) that they were warm-blooded and very likely the ancestors of modern day birds. He does this by looking at bone structures and where muscles attached, wear and tear on teeth, and footprints (among many other things), and while I'm not a paleontologist, I still found it very understandable. The book is heavily illustrated (by the author) which helps, too. And although the book was written thirty years ago, and much of his argument seems to have already become accepted, I found it a very enjoyable book.
January 7, 2015
This was the book that kicked off the contemporary dinosaur craze, and while it is a bit dated (it was written in the mid-1980s), Professor Bakker's ideas are still somewhat startling to those of us who grew up in the era when dinosaurs were portrayed as slow-moving, dim-witted, swamp-dwelling, and cold-blooded failed reptiles. As such, the book is as much today a text on the history of science as well as about paleontology, and certainly worth the time taken to read if you have an interest in prehistoric life. His own illustrations add zest and information to the reader-friendly text. By the way, I found an error in the back flap blurb about the cover illustration: it misidentifies the beast battling with the T-rex as a Triceratops when it is clearly a Styracosaurus.
June 27, 2008
I first received this book as a gift back when I was like 10 years old. Apparently, someone overestimated my reading skills because this book was well beyond my knowledge at that time. I have since gone back and read it several times, and find its biological and paleological insights fresh and lively. As it states proudly on the cover, this is by the man who was the main consult for the dinosaur behaviors seen in Jurassic Park, and so he was, in a very real sense, the originator of our view of dinosaurs as light-footed, agile, well-adapted creatures. Bakker also manages to turn the potentially slow and confusing world of paleo-biology into a readable and understandable experience.
October 18, 2018
this book is old, older than i am (published in 1986, 8 years before i even came into this world), so i figured that a lot of the theories discussed in these essays would be defunct at this point, but that definitely isn't the case at all, and i guess that's why this remains one of the formidable dinosaur texts, and why mr. bakker remains one of The Dinosaur Guys. i already knew some of this stuff, but i also learned a lot, too. one of the things i love about the study of dinosaurs is that almost all of it is conjecture, that there's so much that we don't, can't, know, but i definitely found myself swayed by many of mr. bakker's viewpoints.
October 27, 2008
Bakker was really the skunk at the garden party when his book suggested, among other things, that dinosaurs were not the cold-blooded reptiles we've always believed them to be but rather warm-blooded creatures from which our modern day birds descended. This theory is now widely considered to be the prevailing truth but when this book hit the scene in the late '80s it caused quite an uproar.
This is a very readable book and I'd like to get my hands on the updated edition some day. If you never outgrew your childhood obsession with dinosaurs then you will get a real kick out of this book.
This is a very readable book and I'd like to get my hands on the updated edition some day. If you never outgrew your childhood obsession with dinosaurs then you will get a real kick out of this book.
November 2, 2011
I adored every page of this book. Regardless of whether you ascribe to his theories Bakker keeps you thinking and communicates his work very well indeed. This is everything a dinosaur book should be as it not only introduces the reader to scienticic theories but also allows the reader to understand the development of the theories.
August 22, 2012
I read this book several years ago after first starting it in about 1989. Some of the theories may be out of date now, but it was apparent to me that others are receiving wider consideration these days.
I found the book easy to read and very interesting. Even if it is out of date, I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the area.
I found the book easy to read and very interesting. Even if it is out of date, I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the area.
September 29, 2015
This book has cleared up many misconceptions that people have about dinosaurs. Some of these mistakes include people thinking dinosaurs are lizard which they are not. This is a very well written and interesting book that brings dinosaurs into whole different light. Even those this book is very old a lot of the facts presented are still accurate today
March 13, 2013
First book I read that presented revolutionary ideas on the dinosaurs. Well written and easy to read.
September 29, 2024
A FASCINATING ARGUMENT FOR WARM-BLOODED DINOSAURS, AND MORE...
Robert Thomas Bakker (born 1945) is an American paleontologist, best-known for his support of the idea that dinosaurs were endothermic (warm-blooded). He was among the advisors for the film Jurassic Park and for the 1992 PBS series, The Dinosaurs, and currently serves as the Curator of Paleontology for the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
He notes, "It's important to be clear ... what dinosaurs are not. Dinosaurs are not lizards, and vice versa. Lizards are scaly reptiles of an ancient bloodline. The oldest lizards antedate the earliest dinosaurs by a full thirty million years. A few large lizards, such as a man-eating Komodo dragon, have been called 'relics of the dinosaur age,' but this phrase is historically incorrect. No lizard ever evolved the birdlike characteristics peculiar to each and every dinosaur. A big lizard never resembled a small dinosaur except for a few inconsequential details of the teeth. Lizards never walk with the erect, long-striding gait that distinguishes the dinosaurlike ground birds today or the birdlike dinosaurs of the Mesozoic." (Pg. 23)
He observes, "Although the 'warm-bloodedness' of birds and mammals is very similar in physiological detail, it is quite clear that the 'warm-blooded' condition evolved separately, once in birds, once in mammals." (Pg. 25) He recalls, "As an undergraduate... I published several papers attacking the orthodox theories and arguing for the tripodal habits I have described here. I believed I had arrived at some quite new, revolutionary ideas, until I discovered some papers actually published in the last century. I had in fact merely resurrected a view carefully worked out some eighty years earlier..." (Pg. 189-190)
He points out, "Tyrannosaurs reduced their forelimb to such an extreme that it appeared useless, or nearly so... much of the muscle-attachment processes were subdued. So the hand was not only short, it was weak. Strange as it may sound, an average adult human could have won an arm-wrestling contest with a five-ton Tyrannosaurus." (Pg. 272)
He states, "accumulating evidence has forced me back to the orthodox view of Archaeopteryx as a climbing and gliding flier. The aerodynamic shape of its flight feathers is the first consideration. Flying birds today have asymmetrical feathers---the leading edge is narrower and stronger than the trailing edge. This is a necessary for powered flight because air pressure is greater along each feather's front edge... Therefore Archaeopteryx very probably did indulge in powered flight, even though it must have been a noisy, slow, and inelegant performer in the air." (Pg. 319)
He argues, "If dinosaurs were 100 percent cold-blooded, with a metabolic system no more sophisticated than a lizard's, then the Age of Dinosaurs amounted to an inexplicable Age of Throwbacks, a monumental step backward in the progression of life on land, a return to the slow-motion conditions of the Coal Age. It makes no historical sense to believe the dinosaurs were cold-blooded. All the fabric of fossil evidence comes together to weave a coherent story of an unbroken succession of warm-bloods following one another down through the ages, from the Late Permian, straight through the entire Mesozoic Era---the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous---and finally, consistently, into our own Age of Mammals." (Pg. 424)
He is, however, skeptical of the "asteroid-extinction" theory of Alvarez and the Berkeley group. "I do believe extinctions come in cycles. I do not believe the theory of a bolt from the cosmos. An astronomer friend of mine... challenged me about this. I advocate a wide variety of heresies about the dinosaurs, so why could I not accept the theory of their extinction based on the striking meteor and the resulting iridium layer. My defense is simple. I champion heresies only if they fit the facts better than orthodoxy." (Pg. 434)
He adds, "The historical pattern followed by mass extinctions simply does not support the theory of a Death Star's killing off faunas suddenly, within a few years' time. What, then, does the iridium layer mean? I am not certain... In any event, history proves celestial collisions cannot be the chief culprits in the collapse of ecosystems. At best they are accessories... There is absolutely no need for an extraterrestrial hypothesis for those extinctions when there is a perfectly good explanation on earth." (Pg. 438-439)
This is a fascinating, very informative book, that should be considered "must reading" for anyone seriously studying dinosaurs---even if you don't agree with all of Bakker's "heresies."
Robert Thomas Bakker (born 1945) is an American paleontologist, best-known for his support of the idea that dinosaurs were endothermic (warm-blooded). He was among the advisors for the film Jurassic Park and for the 1992 PBS series, The Dinosaurs, and currently serves as the Curator of Paleontology for the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
He notes, "It's important to be clear ... what dinosaurs are not. Dinosaurs are not lizards, and vice versa. Lizards are scaly reptiles of an ancient bloodline. The oldest lizards antedate the earliest dinosaurs by a full thirty million years. A few large lizards, such as a man-eating Komodo dragon, have been called 'relics of the dinosaur age,' but this phrase is historically incorrect. No lizard ever evolved the birdlike characteristics peculiar to each and every dinosaur. A big lizard never resembled a small dinosaur except for a few inconsequential details of the teeth. Lizards never walk with the erect, long-striding gait that distinguishes the dinosaurlike ground birds today or the birdlike dinosaurs of the Mesozoic." (Pg. 23)
He observes, "Although the 'warm-bloodedness' of birds and mammals is very similar in physiological detail, it is quite clear that the 'warm-blooded' condition evolved separately, once in birds, once in mammals." (Pg. 25) He recalls, "As an undergraduate... I published several papers attacking the orthodox theories and arguing for the tripodal habits I have described here. I believed I had arrived at some quite new, revolutionary ideas, until I discovered some papers actually published in the last century. I had in fact merely resurrected a view carefully worked out some eighty years earlier..." (Pg. 189-190)
He points out, "Tyrannosaurs reduced their forelimb to such an extreme that it appeared useless, or nearly so... much of the muscle-attachment processes were subdued. So the hand was not only short, it was weak. Strange as it may sound, an average adult human could have won an arm-wrestling contest with a five-ton Tyrannosaurus." (Pg. 272)
He states, "accumulating evidence has forced me back to the orthodox view of Archaeopteryx as a climbing and gliding flier. The aerodynamic shape of its flight feathers is the first consideration. Flying birds today have asymmetrical feathers---the leading edge is narrower and stronger than the trailing edge. This is a necessary for powered flight because air pressure is greater along each feather's front edge... Therefore Archaeopteryx very probably did indulge in powered flight, even though it must have been a noisy, slow, and inelegant performer in the air." (Pg. 319)
He argues, "If dinosaurs were 100 percent cold-blooded, with a metabolic system no more sophisticated than a lizard's, then the Age of Dinosaurs amounted to an inexplicable Age of Throwbacks, a monumental step backward in the progression of life on land, a return to the slow-motion conditions of the Coal Age. It makes no historical sense to believe the dinosaurs were cold-blooded. All the fabric of fossil evidence comes together to weave a coherent story of an unbroken succession of warm-bloods following one another down through the ages, from the Late Permian, straight through the entire Mesozoic Era---the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous---and finally, consistently, into our own Age of Mammals." (Pg. 424)
He is, however, skeptical of the "asteroid-extinction" theory of Alvarez and the Berkeley group. "I do believe extinctions come in cycles. I do not believe the theory of a bolt from the cosmos. An astronomer friend of mine... challenged me about this. I advocate a wide variety of heresies about the dinosaurs, so why could I not accept the theory of their extinction based on the striking meteor and the resulting iridium layer. My defense is simple. I champion heresies only if they fit the facts better than orthodoxy." (Pg. 434)
He adds, "The historical pattern followed by mass extinctions simply does not support the theory of a Death Star's killing off faunas suddenly, within a few years' time. What, then, does the iridium layer mean? I am not certain... In any event, history proves celestial collisions cannot be the chief culprits in the collapse of ecosystems. At best they are accessories... There is absolutely no need for an extraterrestrial hypothesis for those extinctions when there is a perfectly good explanation on earth." (Pg. 438-439)
This is a fascinating, very informative book, that should be considered "must reading" for anyone seriously studying dinosaurs---even if you don't agree with all of Bakker's "heresies."
January 23, 2019
The Dinosaur Heresies is a book which learns us how to look dinosaurs. It is against old-fashioned (or as Bakker called Orthodox) theories. Each chapter is about one aspect of dinosaurs that should be seen under a different view point. This book modified those ancient atchosaurs from cold-blooded, lazy reptiles into warm-blooded, swift Dinosaurs!
Although the book is old, there are great information about dinosaurs. On the other hand, some details now are outdated. Structure of pterosaurs, causes of extinction and some others are outdated. Hence I learned that, if we thought we have the most heresy thoughts, we should always bear in our mind that there is other facts and explains which they are more peculiar than ourselves. For instance, now we know that almost every dinosaurs had feathers. This was unbelievable on the bakker time.
To sum up, this book is a great authority for all people who like paleontology and dinosaurs. But the main importance of it is it's historical importance, not the scientific results and methods. R.T. Bakker is one of the greatest paleontologists in the history of paleontology and I think, all who love dinosaurs (wheter academics or amateurs) should read this book.
Although the book is old, there are great information about dinosaurs. On the other hand, some details now are outdated. Structure of pterosaurs, causes of extinction and some others are outdated. Hence I learned that, if we thought we have the most heresy thoughts, we should always bear in our mind that there is other facts and explains which they are more peculiar than ourselves. For instance, now we know that almost every dinosaurs had feathers. This was unbelievable on the bakker time.
To sum up, this book is a great authority for all people who like paleontology and dinosaurs. But the main importance of it is it's historical importance, not the scientific results and methods. R.T. Bakker is one of the greatest paleontologists in the history of paleontology and I think, all who love dinosaurs (wheter academics or amateurs) should read this book.
June 7, 2020
Wow! Total gamechanger that will completely challenge everything you know about - or think you know about - dinosaurs and history. From cold bloodedness to favorite ecosystems to the entire family tree and evolutionary position of dinosaurs, Bakker rejects everything and rethinks the entire conception of the earliest inhabitants of Earth. So, yes, dinosaurs were actually warm blooded, they likely had gizzards to help efficiently digest food far beyond the capacity of their mouths, they moved faster - and were likely smarter - than we've ever given the credit for and they died out over millions of years, not a dramatic weekend when a meteor hit and destroyed the world ecosystem.
I admit I didn't get all of the nuances, this not being my field of study, but this is a book that could affect the path of a younger reader, inspiring them to take up the study of paleontology. It's that good. Unfortunately, it's also rather full of author Robert Bakker's neverending self-aggrandizing ego strokes about he challenge the orthodoxy in grad school again and again, but that's worth breezing over to get to the meat of his argument. It's pretty darn solid.
I admit I didn't get all of the nuances, this not being my field of study, but this is a book that could affect the path of a younger reader, inspiring them to take up the study of paleontology. It's that good. Unfortunately, it's also rather full of author Robert Bakker's neverending self-aggrandizing ego strokes about he challenge the orthodoxy in grad school again and again, but that's worth breezing over to get to the meat of his argument. It's pretty darn solid.
September 16, 2019
Wow! I love this book, as old as it is. Most of what I knew about dinosaurs has come from museums where essentially all old, fossilized skeletons are reconstructed and placed in a time line. This book has looked at the evolution of their anatomy and at the geological time of the fossils and the geological indications of the ecology where they were found to bring them to life. The illustrations in this book are so beautiful and helpful, that they must be considered a key feature of the book. The text is plainly written, although all dinosaur names come from Greek and Latin roots, and the logic is well reasoned The conclusion is that birds and crocodiles are the last of the dinosaurs. That crocs and alligators are not reptiles - based upon anatomy.
Now I can begin to make some sense of the tree of life. I would like to read another, more recent book on the subject of dinosaur ecology.
Now I can begin to make some sense of the tree of life. I would like to read another, more recent book on the subject of dinosaur ecology.
May 25, 2020
I read an interesting interview with Bakker in a recent Prehistoric Times magazine and that intrigued me enough to read his book. The book is written in the same lively and engaging style as the interview. Bakker does his own clever illustrations to good effect. What surprised me most is the rigid orthodoxy that seemed to dominate paleontology over the last century. Bakker applies simple logic, scientific method and a splash of humor to examine and question long-held beliefs about warm/cold bloodedness, feathers, therapod-bird evolution, metabolism, classification as reptiles, emergence of mammals, and extinction theories. My dinosaur knowledge stems from the '50s, much of which has been debunked over the decades and this book does a lot to bring readers up to date. Still, a lot of progress has been made in paleontology since 1986 and a new edition or update would be nice.
August 3, 2020
Very fun read and a very potable book, unfortunately it's informative value is somewhat compounded by age. And age, in sciences (even one half as dynamic as dinosaur studies), is a harsh mistress. For every avant-garde idea which Bakker represented in the book that has taken root, there is one that hasn't quite lasted the test of time (viviparous sauropods, implications of an apparent decline of biodiversity towards the K-T extinction, inclusion of pterosaurs within Dinosauria as a proposed expanded taxonomic rank... etc.). Still an invaluable read for anyone interested in history of dinosaur discovery and research especially during an era of rapid perspective shifts that has ultimately paved way to our contemporary understanding of not only Mesozoic biota, but natural history as a whole.
August 14, 2017
Though this book is old (1988), the controversy it discusses continues today with research on the exact lines/arguments Bakker put forth to show that dinosaurs, not the cold blooded plodder reptiles of scientific orthodoxy of the time, were warm blooded, thus much more vital and fast moving than scientists had concluded earlier. 2014 research is coming to the same conclusions, based on the very evidence Bakker offered in his book. Not heresy anymore, though the orthodox view hasn't died yet.
The book is clear, well organized and well argued. Fun for anyone interested in these fascinating beasts.
The book is clear, well organized and well argued. Fun for anyone interested in these fascinating beasts.
September 4, 2018
Reading Bakker's 1980s "Dinosaur heresies" in the 2000s, not all of his theories have stood the test of time (such is the way of science, especially in a field where so many major new discoveries have been made over the past three decades), but several of his key arguments, such as the close link between dinosaurs and modern birds, have stood the test of time and are now widely accepted.
From a modern standpoint, reading this book is a fascinating look back at a pivotal earlier era in paleontology. Bakker's prose is clear, readable, and entertaining. I found the line-drawing illustrations particularly charming.
From a modern standpoint, reading this book is a fascinating look back at a pivotal earlier era in paleontology. Bakker's prose is clear, readable, and entertaining. I found the line-drawing illustrations particularly charming.
December 29, 2022
Wow o’ wow! Not bad for me. A bit complicated and heavy reading but I did like the ideas about dinosaurs. Great theories and imagined diagrams and so on. He goes into a lot of scientific detail about the species and the processes of prehistoric life. He even mentions the author of another series I intend to read. If it is the same “Steven Gould” when they spoke of brain evolution and function. I’m not sure.
I do love Dino’s. I do like this. If anyone is studying to be a real paleontologist, or just a J. Park series fan etc. then I suggest reading this and other books on the prehistoric animals from untold eons ago. Both to learn and enjoy.
I do love Dino’s. I do like this. If anyone is studying to be a real paleontologist, or just a J. Park series fan etc. then I suggest reading this and other books on the prehistoric animals from untold eons ago. Both to learn and enjoy.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews