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The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life
The most exciting view of prehistoric life. "Comprehensive, illustrated encyclopedia to prehistoric animals... lifelike detail... this easily readable book should appeal to dinosaur enthusiasts of all ages."
-Science News The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life. The book's concise, jargon-free text and full color illustrations bring the primordial world to vivid photo-realistic life. In-depth profiles of 112 kinds of beasts cover physical characteristics, lifestyle, habitat and behavior. Throughout, "fascinating fact" sidebars offer additional bits of "dinotrivia." But there is more than dinosaurs here. Readers will find creatures from triobites to early human beings. At the heart of the book are 350 richly detailed and lifelike color illustrations -- accompanied by comprehensive text -- which are the result of pioneering work by the Emmy award-winning creative team at Framestore CFC. Using animation, graphic effects and filmmaking, they recreated awe-inspiring prehistoric creatures and the world they lived in. These images are now reproduced to thrill readers. The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life was published to accompany two BBC TV prime-time programs, Life Before Dinosaurs and Walking with Life , both part of the Discovery Channel's award-winning Walking with Dinosaurs series.
-Science News The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life. The book's concise, jargon-free text and full color illustrations bring the primordial world to vivid photo-realistic life. In-depth profiles of 112 kinds of beasts cover physical characteristics, lifestyle, habitat and behavior. Throughout, "fascinating fact" sidebars offer additional bits of "dinotrivia." But there is more than dinosaurs here. Readers will find creatures from triobites to early human beings. At the heart of the book are 350 richly detailed and lifelike color illustrations -- accompanied by comprehensive text -- which are the result of pioneering work by the Emmy award-winning creative team at Framestore CFC. Using animation, graphic effects and filmmaking, they recreated awe-inspiring prehistoric creatures and the world they lived in. These images are now reproduced to thrill readers. The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life was published to accompany two BBC TV prime-time programs, Life Before Dinosaurs and Walking with Life , both part of the Discovery Channel's award-winning Walking with Dinosaurs series.
216 pages, Paperback
First published October 6, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 25, 2022
The authors of this book were perhaps a little presumptuous when giving it a title - it goes without saying that this slim volume is hardly the "complete" guide to prehistoric life. It does, however, feature almost all the creatures that appeared in the B.B.C. series 'Walking With Monsters', 'Walking With Dinosaurs' and 'Walking With Beasts', as well as additional species.
For the most part, the computer-generated images of the animals are excellent (though the cave lion is incorrectly proportioned, being depicted with a short tail when it was, in fact, identical to modern lions except for being larger and would therefore have had a long tail).
Unfortunately, though the majority of the information given is correct, there are an unacceptable number of mistakes in the text. Many are simple schoolboy errors, such as using the word ancestor in place of descendant, or stating that "artiodactyl" means "odd-toed" when in fact it means "even-toed". Some may even be typographical errors - for example, it is stated that Smilodon became extinct 100,000 years ago, when it actually became extinct only 10,000 years ago. In either case, these should have been picked up at the editing stage and should not have made it into final print.
What I found more irritating was the apparently deliberate mistranslation of the word "saurus" (which means "lizard") as "reptile" in the case of almost every creature with this as part of its name. Anyone with even a passing interest in palaeontology knows that the name of the famous Tyrannosaurus translates as "tyrant lizard" - here, however, it is translated as "terrible reptile". Whilst it is true that many of these animals were named when dinosaurs were believed to be cold-blooded, lizard-like creatures, one cannot simply change the meaning of the word to reflect our new knowledge.
It is one thing to overlook facts here and there in a work of fiction, but in a supposedly educational reference book I feel every effort should be made to ensure the accuracy of the information, else what is the point? In short, if you buy this book, do so only for the handsome reconstructions of the animals - as an accurate source of knowledge, it should not be relied upon.
For the most part, the computer-generated images of the animals are excellent (though the cave lion is incorrectly proportioned, being depicted with a short tail when it was, in fact, identical to modern lions except for being larger and would therefore have had a long tail).
Unfortunately, though the majority of the information given is correct, there are an unacceptable number of mistakes in the text. Many are simple schoolboy errors, such as using the word ancestor in place of descendant, or stating that "artiodactyl" means "odd-toed" when in fact it means "even-toed". Some may even be typographical errors - for example, it is stated that Smilodon became extinct 100,000 years ago, when it actually became extinct only 10,000 years ago. In either case, these should have been picked up at the editing stage and should not have made it into final print.
What I found more irritating was the apparently deliberate mistranslation of the word "saurus" (which means "lizard") as "reptile" in the case of almost every creature with this as part of its name. Anyone with even a passing interest in palaeontology knows that the name of the famous Tyrannosaurus translates as "tyrant lizard" - here, however, it is translated as "terrible reptile". Whilst it is true that many of these animals were named when dinosaurs were believed to be cold-blooded, lizard-like creatures, one cannot simply change the meaning of the word to reflect our new knowledge.
It is one thing to overlook facts here and there in a work of fiction, but in a supposedly educational reference book I feel every effort should be made to ensure the accuracy of the information, else what is the point? In short, if you buy this book, do so only for the handsome reconstructions of the animals - as an accurate source of knowledge, it should not be relied upon.
July 8, 2013
I can't comment on how technically accurate the information in this book is. There are certainly a lot of interesting descriptions and background stories on discoveries made through the years, as well as some very beautiful artwork.
September 19, 2022
I first bought this with Borders gift cards I received in 2007, and this remains my favorite book on prehistoric life I've ever read. It truly captured my imagination, hitting the right balance of thoroughness and accessibility. The species it chooses to cover represent a broad overview rather than an overly extensive list of every animal we know of, and the fact that every entry has an accompanying "photo" helps bring these creatures back to life.
Sadly, much of the science will be out-dated now (including pages and pages showing theropods that should have feathers without them!), so I can't recommend you buy it for your children, who should probably be exposed to something up-to-date.
Sadly, much of the science will be out-dated now (including pages and pages showing theropods that should have feathers without them!), so I can't recommend you buy it for your children, who should probably be exposed to something up-to-date.
March 4, 2018
This book is fabulous and missing an Author in the details on goodreads. It should be Tim Haines and Paul Chambers according to the actual book (credit where credit is due).
The pictures are gorgeous and the information is clearly presented with any contradictory or missing evidence clearly noted. Strength of conclusions is related to evidence so that if they are based on not many finds you know so as you read it.
It is not the sort of book you sit and read at 1 sitting unless you have a strange extinct animal obsession. However, the sections of information for each species is the perfect length for an advertisement break during your favourite TV show. This means you can learn something instead of being sold stuff you don't want.
There are fantastic little gems of information to keep readers interested. My personal favourite was Hyaenodon adding insult to injury by not only killing prey but pooping on it afterwards to hide the smell of the kill or mark it as a warning.
The only reason it isn't 5* is because it is a bit repetitive at times, and even for someone with a poor memory you don't need to read the same relationships 10 times.
The pictures are gorgeous and the information is clearly presented with any contradictory or missing evidence clearly noted. Strength of conclusions is related to evidence so that if they are based on not many finds you know so as you read it.
It is not the sort of book you sit and read at 1 sitting unless you have a strange extinct animal obsession. However, the sections of information for each species is the perfect length for an advertisement break during your favourite TV show. This means you can learn something instead of being sold stuff you don't want.
There are fantastic little gems of information to keep readers interested. My personal favourite was Hyaenodon adding insult to injury by not only killing prey but pooping on it afterwards to hide the smell of the kill or mark it as a warning.
The only reason it isn't 5* is because it is a bit repetitive at times, and even for someone with a poor memory you don't need to read the same relationships 10 times.
January 2, 2018
Used in the classroom, my students enjoyed random read aloud’s from this book. I’d have them call out a page number and read the chosen animal to m a dramatic fashion. Based on the notable BBC series and bringing prehistoric life into our living rooms, it’s impressive for its realistic illustrations. Unfortunately, details of each animals behaviors are often stated as fact when behavior is difficult to determine from fossil evidence.
September 10, 2019
This book was every bit as good as it’s predecessor, the “walking with...” bbc series.
April 21, 2020
Some things might be out of date but still an excellent companion book to the Walking With... shows.
August 1, 2021
This is my favourite book about prehistoric life. Maybe ever. And that's saying something!
May 30, 2022
Read with my son, good book, great art work
February 3, 2012
I guess my only complaint would be that I want more...but a great visual book for fans of the "Walking with" series or just prehistory.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews