The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs

by Gregory S. Paul

This lavishly illustrated volume is the first authoritative dinosaur book in the style of a field guide. World-renowned dinosaur illustrator and researcher Gregory Paul provides comprehensive visual and textual coverage of the great Mesozoic animals that gave rise to the living dinosaurs, the birds. Incorporating the new discoveries and research that are radically transforming what we know about dinosaurs, this book is distinguished both by its scientific accuracy and the quality and quantity of its illustrations. It presents thorough descriptions of more than 735 dinosaur species and features more than 600 color and black-and-white images, including unique skeletal drawings, "life" studies, and scenic views--illustrations that depict the full range of dinosaurs, from small, feathered creatures to whale-sized supersauropods.

Heavily illustrated species accounts of the major dinosaur groups are preceded by an extensive introduction that covers dinosaur history and biology, the extinction of nonavian dinosaurs, the origin of birds, and the history of dinosaur paleontology--and that also gives a taste of what it might be like to travel back to the time of the dinosaurs.

The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs is a must-have for anyone who loves dinosaurs, from the amateur enthusiast to the professional paleontologist.

Genres: Science, Dinosaurs, Palaeontology, Nonfiction, Biology, Reference, History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 20, 2010

About the author

Gregory Scott Paul is an American freelance researcher, author and illustrator who works in paleontology, and more recently has examined sociology and theology. He is best known for his work and research on theropod dinosaurs and his detailed illustrations, both live and skeletal.

Professionally investigating and restoring dinosaurs for three decades, Paul received an on-screen credit as dinosaur specialist on Jurassic Park and Discovery Channel's When Dinosaurs Roamed America and Dinosaur Planet.

He is the author and illustrator of Predatory Dinosaurs of the World (1988), The Complete Illustrated Guide to Dinosaur Skeletons (1996), Dinosaurs of the Air (2001), The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (2010), Gregory S. Paul's Dinosaur Coffee Table Book (2010), and editor of The Scientific American Book of Dinosaurs (2000).

Paul's recent research on the interactions of religion and society has received international press and media coverage.

Reviews

[Brandy Cross · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is overall an incredibly well done reference work with beautiful illustrations and good details. By far one of the most ambitious of it's kind and the introduction is quite good

- would have liked theropods, sauropods, etc. And perhaps even their subdivisions to receive color coding like the base section and the species guide section
-i miss some of the real world details and photos instead of just illustrations but that's something to be fixed with another book


Update after reference use:
- the index is very good
- I would like this work to include dates of finding/naming

[Nick Gotch · Rating 4 out of 5]

First let me start off by saying this isn't a book to read cover-to-cover for the casual dinosaur enthusiast. For them it still makes a great resource full of tons of information and it's invaluable as a reference source; however, it's certainly VERY thorough and only the most die-hard dinosaur lovers would probably be interested in the intricacies of how sauropod digestion works or how quickly a theropod's respiratory system functions. That said, it's a fantastic read with plenty of tidbits of dinosaur trivia, the latest theories and ideas, and my personal favorite of analyzing what-if scenarios regarding if dinosaurs survived to today and the like.

I found "The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs" fantastic albeit somewhat more detailed in parts than I personally needed at my level of involvement with the dinosaur field. Of course I chose to read the book through and for many who just would like to use it as a resource I seriously recommend this as one of the best.

[Sean DeLauder]

If my son ever has any questions about dinosaurs that cannot be answered by Dinosaur Train, this is a good resource to have. Purchased in conjunction with Robert Bakker's Dinosaur Heresies, which I read in high school before many of his hypotheses had been widely adopted. I owe it to my little boy for rekindling my interest.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good broad overview of Dinosauria. The illustrations are superb as you would expect from Paul. The information however, is not well aligned. Divisions among groups are not clearly described and introductions to more inclusive groups occasionally only having limited information about the clade's synapomorphies. Additionally although the stat are implicitly arrayed phylogenetically, there are no phylogenetic trees to help illustrate the internal organizations. These faults are probably more due to lackluster editing than belonging to the author.

[Theo Girvan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked it.

[Savannah-Alicia Lloyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably my favourite book to date. One that I could literally read over and over. This book is filled with so much information, compliment by beautiful illustrations. Definitely one for any dinosaur enthusiast out there.

[Jonas Gehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good reference about different dinosaur species but nothing more

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars.

[Taylor Franson-Thiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book.

But I’ll be straight up: it reads like a textbook. If you wanna feel like you’re doing homework, this is the book for you.

That being said, it’s well structured and beautifully illustrated. I’ve been on a spree of writing dinosaur poems and I will definitely use this as a reference to get details in the future. It covers the basics and does so in a mostly accessible way.

[Brendan McKee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the definition of extensive, with virtually every dinosaur present in here and so for that alone it gets high marks. I should note this book is technical too, so not really for children. There is some good art in here too, but not every dinosaur gets an illustration. Moreover, there are often only rough notes about a dinosaur and occasionally I would want more. Still, one of the better books out there!

[Steve LaForest · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paleontology - re dinosaurs only Insufficient background info., uses MANY terms not explained - not even a glossary! Presume there is a language barrier - many instances of extremely poor grammar, etc. BUT lists every single genus (and many - most?) species, and lots of info. re the number of skulls, skeletons, adult length, weight, exact age (sometimes to epoch!), formation. Classification POOR - hard/impossible to follow. The original book from is from Ajax Library.

[Dan Hyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very thorough book on individual dinosaur species, and well illustrated. If my 5 year old daughter is still as into dinosaurs in 5-10 years as she is today, I'm certain that we'll be coming back and revisiting this book.

Right now it's a little beyond our attention span. But if you are looking into diving deep into a particular species, this is a great reference book.

[Noemí · Rating 4 out of 5]

me ha gustado mucho que ponga cuánto se ha descubierto de los esqueletos de cada especie (también que está explicado para los que no sabemos nada de ciencia, pero tampoco carece de información!) mencanta

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

My grandson's passionate interest in dinosaurs (he is 4) has led me to read widely about them. This book is technically interesting and well written.

[Brandaronii · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soooo beautiful, the illustrations, while a little skin wrapped are very well done

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is certainly the best, most comprehensive guide to dinosaurs I have ever had the pleasure of reading. As an amateur paleontologist, I work to gain knowledge on fossils, extinct animals, and ancient environments. The dinosaurs in this book are organized by family and it is interesting to see which species are closely related to each other. The art work within it awesome. That includes both the full recreations of species and the skeletal outlines, which act as references for the quantity and quality of bones recovered. Though well-known species like Stegosaurus and Tyrannosaurus are discussed, this book acts as a guide to all species ever discovered which allows it to feel like a modern guidebook of animals around the world. This book is extremely informative and fun to read. I would recommend it as a great addition to any dinosaur or reference book collection.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful reference work for serious dinosaur lovers, but not great for anyone else. There are two sections here, a dense summary of scientific knowledge of dinosaurs, and then a laundry list of all named genera with skeletal drawings of each and, if skeletal remains are sufficiently complete, a colour sketch in a consistent, neutral pose. There are occasional life restorations. Both sections are excellent but extremely niche products.

The first section is like a desert oasis for the eager dinosaur hobbyist. Paul lays out in dense but sweeping strokes the history of dinosaur discovery but most importantly what we have learned about their biology from fossils. There are wonders here, presented in muscular academic prose, that are a marvel to read. For example there is evidence that some hadrosaurs and other derived ornithischians evolved diaphragms convergent with those of mammals. Other dinosaur books skip this. They always start with the same tired images of fossil formation (which are not even that representative or informative) before beginning the parade of the dino-clades. The best you get from such works biologically is a depiction of Maiasaura with some babies. Paul's biological summary is instead full of wonderful tidbits and details about the biology of dinosaurs (including insight into the reproduction and ontogeny of all dinosaur clades, not just hadrosaurs), and for that alone, this is one of the best books on dinosaurs. There is a caveat, though: Paul's prose assumes a pre-existing knowledge of biology that the majority of readers will lack. You can get through it with google, but it'll be a slog. It's much faster if you already know your ilium from your ischium, your saurischian from your ornithiscian. In fact, I'll add an indicative pop quiz at the end of this review, representing the kinds of terminology Paul uses. If (out of 10) you already know 8+, dive in; if you score 5-7, be prepared to stop and google a lot; if you score <5, this will be a real slog.

For younger readers the relative paucity of full-colour life illustrations will be disappointing; the lack of drama in the images and the lack of scale bars or better yet human silhouettes for size comparison also don't help. Then there's also the nature of Paul's dinosaur drawing style, which was influential 30 years ago but is controversial today. Paul restores his dinosaurs vacuum-sealed, with no fat or skin sag, just skin wrapped tightly over muscle. Paul's rigour in restoring the musculature is commendable, as he clearly examines and considers attachment points and limb mass, etc., but the end results look scrawny and starved. Something feels a little off. Still, it's that svelte style that influenced Jurassic Park, so there are kicks to be gotten from that (I mean the original JP; dinosaurs in the modern abominations are comparatively obese).

So overall a good and unique tome, straddling the line between academic rigour and sheer awe that together characterise dinosaur science. Just be aware this is not necessarily for younger or casual dinosaur enthusiasts.

POP QUIZ! Do you know the difference between these pairs, without looking them up?

Sauropod vs saurischian
Ornithopod vs ornithischian
Digitigrade vs plantigrade
Ilium vs ischium
Synapsid vs diapsid
Heterodontosaur vs hyphsilophodont
Allosaurid vs allosauroid
Nares vs nasals
Endotherm vs homeotherm
Generic vs specific (in terms of binomials)

[Jimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of information on various species, probably the most interesting part was seeing exactly how much of the skeleton is known for each dinosaur (I was surprised on how little of the Spinosaurus skeleton was found). However, the "anatomical features" for several species has nothing more than "insufficient information" or "standard for [group]". While I'm assuming that he didn't want to include too much technical data so that the average (non-scientist) dino enthusiast would understand it, entries like these make me wonder what makes these species different from other similar species.

The front part of the book includes several interesting parts, such as the history of discovery and research, and dinosaur biology. Unfortunately, a lot of evolutionary garbage was thrown in as well, such as the claim that birds are modern-day dinosaurs and the existence of "feathered non-avian dinosaurs".

[Rykon · Rating 4 out of 5]

К моему старому обзору можно добавить только то, что на русском таки скоро будет:)

По сути, это такой справочник, попытка в одной книге собрать вообще всех известных на момент выхода книги (2010 г.) динозавров. За это время книга уже несколько устарела, например, нормального описания того же дейнохейра там еще нет. (Врочем, это вроде как исправили в издании 2016 года, но я читал только первое, от 2010)

Но вступительные главы (это примерно первые 65-70 страниц) всё окупают. Там коротко, ёмко и понятным (английским, правда) языком описано, какие были динозавры, как размножались, как охотились, чем питались и т. п. Причем автор не считает себя истиной в последней инстанции, а честно говорит, что вот это могло быть так, а могло быть и по-другому. А вон про то пока что науке ничего не известно, но со временем новые находки все объяснят. А еще про что-нибудь нам не узнать никогда, и это тоже норм.

Хорошая, в общем, книга от умного человека. Жаль, на русском таких нет.

[Miroslav · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skvelá kniha. Množstvo informácií bolo opäť nových, predovšetkým, že sú zas a opäť spochybnené desiatky rokov uznávané druhy, resp. ich zaradenie do stromu príbuzenstva s inými. Kniha obsahuje 750 mien dinosaurov (mnohé redukované len na poddruhy či mladšie alebo staršie jedince iných druhov) a teda zjavne je jednou z lastovičiek, kedy sa boom dinosaurov začína redukovať. Dnes totiž poznáme takmer 1.100 validných druhov a ďalších 1.500 nomen dubium, pričom priemerne do zoznamu pribúda 50 mien ročne. Žiadna kniha preto dnes neprinesie ustálený či ultimátny pohľad na dinosaury, no toto je jedna z kníh, ktorá ponúka prehľadný zoznam toho, čo momentálne máme objavené a v akom "stave" je validita druhov či ich postavenie k iným.

[Jeffrey Gao · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great update on an already fantastic encyclopedia. Sure, Paul makes my favorite dinosaur(Parasaurolphus) look small and there's some questionable lumping at hand(Scolosaurus and Euoplocephalus should be seperate, Styracosaurus, Einiosaurus, and Pachyrhinosaurus are definitely not identical to Centrosaurus, Triceratops and Eotriceratops are probably separate, etc.) but overall great for any paleontology fan. As for the creatures before and after the Mesozoic along with the non-dinosaur animals that lived during the Mesozoic, catch 'em all...on the internet!

[Jeffrey Gao · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and very accurate for a 2010 encyclopedia. This was the kind of book I liked reading as a kid and still do now. The artwork is excellent as ever. That being said, Paul tends to make unwarranted lumping of genera like with Aucasaurus and Abelisaurus. Some(not all) of the weight figures are questionable but since when can you weigh a dinosaur? Overall, highly recommended for any paleontology fan!

[Sophie Bakalar · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible, easy-to-follow reference book for laymen who want to know more about paleontology. I find myself re-reading or referencing this book very frequently. This is one book that's really nice to have in hardcover.

[Etienne Falardeau · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most complete guide to dinosaurs on the market. Great introduction which can easily be used in schools, the encyclopedia section is very complete and lets the reader understand complex matters fairly easily.

[J. D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and exhaustive survey of all present known history of the most successful family of animals to date.

[Lily Ribeiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must have for any paleoartist.

[Matthew Downey · Rating 4 out of 5]

To quote Mr. DNA, 'Diiinosaurs!'