What do you think?
Rate this book
Uncovering Dinosaur Behavior: What They Did and How We Know
How scientists are unravelling one of the most tantalizing questions in paleontology
Our understanding of dinosaur behavior has long been hampered by the inevitable lack of evidence from animals that went extinct more than sixty-five million years ago and whose daily behaviors are rarely reflected by the fossil record. Today, with the discovery of new specimens and the development of new and cutting-edge techniques, paleontologists are making major advances in reconstructing how dinosaurs lived and acted. Uncovering Dinosaur Behavior provides an unparalleled look at this emerging field of science, presenting the latest findings on dinosaur behavior and explaining how researchers interpret the often minimal and even conflicting information available to them.
David Hone begins by introducing readers to the fundamentals of dinosaur biology, diversity, and evolution, and goes on to describe behaviors across the whole range of species and groups, from feeding and communication to reproduction, sociality, and combat. Speculation about dinosaur behavior goes back to the earliest scientific studies of these “terrible lizards.” Hone traces how pioneering science is opening a window into prehistoric life as never before, and discusses future directions of research in this thrilling and rapidly growing area of paleontology.
Written by one of the world’s leading dinosaur experts and featuring accurate color recreations by paleoartist Gabriel Ugueto along with a wealth of photos and diagrams, Uncovering Dinosaur Behavior is a foundational work on the subject and an invaluable reference for anyone interested in these amazing creatures.
Our understanding of dinosaur behavior has long been hampered by the inevitable lack of evidence from animals that went extinct more than sixty-five million years ago and whose daily behaviors are rarely reflected by the fossil record. Today, with the discovery of new specimens and the development of new and cutting-edge techniques, paleontologists are making major advances in reconstructing how dinosaurs lived and acted. Uncovering Dinosaur Behavior provides an unparalleled look at this emerging field of science, presenting the latest findings on dinosaur behavior and explaining how researchers interpret the often minimal and even conflicting information available to them.
David Hone begins by introducing readers to the fundamentals of dinosaur biology, diversity, and evolution, and goes on to describe behaviors across the whole range of species and groups, from feeding and communication to reproduction, sociality, and combat. Speculation about dinosaur behavior goes back to the earliest scientific studies of these “terrible lizards.” Hone traces how pioneering science is opening a window into prehistoric life as never before, and discusses future directions of research in this thrilling and rapidly growing area of paleontology.
Written by one of the world’s leading dinosaur experts and featuring accurate color recreations by paleoartist Gabriel Ugueto along with a wealth of photos and diagrams, Uncovering Dinosaur Behavior is a foundational work on the subject and an invaluable reference for anyone interested in these amazing creatures.
248 pages, Hardcover
Published November 5, 2024
27 people are currently reading
435 people want to read
About the author
David Hone
15 books50 followersDavid Hone is a paleontologist and senior lecturer at Queen Mary University of London. He has written about dinosaurs for leading publications such as National Geographic, The Guardian, The Telegraph and HuffPost. His books include The Tyrannosaur Chronicles: The Biology of the Tyrant Dinosaurs
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
January 16, 2025
This book combines what is known about basic dinosaur biology and still-existing related species with current theory about dinosaur behavior. It covers such areas as mating, fighting and eating. It was interesting, however so much is still unknown. To a paleontologist, I’m sure that it appears that there has been a huge increase in knowledge. But to me, it is all still very vague. I suggest that you read the ebook or physical book, because the narrator of the audiobook constantly refers to illustrations. Also, the narrator’s voice is a little droning. I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher.
April 9, 2025
Respected evolutionary biologist Steve Brusatte (author of THE RISE AND FALL
OF THE DINOSAURS ) describes UNCOVERING DINOSAUR BEHAVIOR as
"authoritative and readable" and "popular science writing" - see back cover.
Steve, Steve, Steve.......(imagine me here slowly shaking my head in disbelief.)
Here's one such 'highly readable' quote on the sense of hearing in predators like T-Rex:
"The inner ear can be scanned in well preserved dinosaur skulls, enabling determination of the
size and shape of auditory canals and thus indicating the kinds of sounds (high or low pitch)
to which animals might be attuned (57),potentially providing a proxy for behavior (129). It was
shown by Stig Walsh and colleagues (129) that across multiple reptile and bird taxa, the size and
shape of the endosseous cochlear duct showed positive correlations with diverse features
of biology, including 'measures of hearing sensitivity, vocal complexity,sociality and environmental
preference,' strongly suggesting that ear canal shape can be used to make inferences about
behavior. That said, this is a good exemplar of one common problem with dinosaurs, namely their
huge size compared to extant taxa. Extending trend lines from birds (largest extant examples
ca.140 kg.) and modern crocodilians(1 t) to the largest theropods (7 t) and sauropods (>70 t) is
clearly potentially problematic." (page 42)
Still awake ?
Crystal clear ?
Then how about the footnote numbers, as many as 3 to 5 in a single sentence.
Definitions/ explanations ? No.
They are the titles and authors of the journals / sources Of the terms or concepts .
The author frequently quotes himself as his own source ( more head shaking here.)
The majority of this slim volume reads like the foregoing quote :
Obtuse.
Pedantic.
Self redacting.
Inconclusive.
NYQUIL in a book.
A few years ago, David Hone wrote a readable little book called THE FUTURE OF DINOSAURS.
This current volume : a retread. He even admits that to a mostly sketchy fossil record and our
inability to observe extinct animals for ourselves, we just can't know. Scientific technology has
come a long way since the 1800's. We are only somewhat better at guesstimating ,extrapolating
behaviors based on living animals we only THINK we know. Turns out, we're not even good at that.
The title promises "UNCOVERING".
Definitely not.
A subtitle advertises "WHAT THEY DID AND HOW WE KNOW ."
Big-time NO.
"WHAT THEY DID: YOUR GUESS AS GOOD AS MINE."
Truth in advertising.
OF THE DINOSAURS ) describes UNCOVERING DINOSAUR BEHAVIOR as
"authoritative and readable" and "popular science writing" - see back cover.
Steve, Steve, Steve.......(imagine me here slowly shaking my head in disbelief.)
Here's one such 'highly readable' quote on the sense of hearing in predators like T-Rex:
"The inner ear can be scanned in well preserved dinosaur skulls, enabling determination of the
size and shape of auditory canals and thus indicating the kinds of sounds (high or low pitch)
to which animals might be attuned (57),potentially providing a proxy for behavior (129). It was
shown by Stig Walsh and colleagues (129) that across multiple reptile and bird taxa, the size and
shape of the endosseous cochlear duct showed positive correlations with diverse features
of biology, including 'measures of hearing sensitivity, vocal complexity,sociality and environmental
preference,' strongly suggesting that ear canal shape can be used to make inferences about
behavior. That said, this is a good exemplar of one common problem with dinosaurs, namely their
huge size compared to extant taxa. Extending trend lines from birds (largest extant examples
ca.140 kg.) and modern crocodilians(1 t) to the largest theropods (7 t) and sauropods (>70 t) is
clearly potentially problematic." (page 42)
Still awake ?
Crystal clear ?
Then how about the footnote numbers, as many as 3 to 5 in a single sentence.
Definitions/ explanations ? No.
They are the titles and authors of the journals / sources Of the terms or concepts .
The author frequently quotes himself as his own source ( more head shaking here.)
The majority of this slim volume reads like the foregoing quote :
Obtuse.
Pedantic.
Self redacting.
Inconclusive.
NYQUIL in a book.
A few years ago, David Hone wrote a readable little book called THE FUTURE OF DINOSAURS.
This current volume : a retread. He even admits that to a mostly sketchy fossil record and our
inability to observe extinct animals for ourselves, we just can't know. Scientific technology has
come a long way since the 1800's. We are only somewhat better at guesstimating ,extrapolating
behaviors based on living animals we only THINK we know. Turns out, we're not even good at that.
The title promises "UNCOVERING".
Definitely not.
A subtitle advertises "WHAT THEY DID AND HOW WE KNOW ."
Big-time NO.
"WHAT THEY DID: YOUR GUESS AS GOOD AS MINE."
Truth in advertising.
November 23, 2024
Narrated by Graham Mack
Presented by Highbridge Audio
Aw man, there were a lot of big words in this book!
I'm a dino enthusiast, and I thought the narrator was fantastic, and yet somehow I still found it a little too hard to follow.
Very thorough, though.
This is more of a reference for people who work in a relevant field, so lots of technical terms for the uninitiated. I found it quite difficult to absorb the information because there were too many scientific names and terms to navigate before arriving at the point. Those who understand such terms, however, will find some interesting ideas.
Another thing that bothered me was its readiness to fence sit. I think reiterating the point that we can only speculate on many things related to dinosaur behaviour allows freedom TO speculate. Yet rather than do so, this book works its way AROUND things rather than drawing any possible conclusions in the face of no support.
Basically? I wish this book had more courage.
The narrator did a great job of pronouncing everything and differentiating between parentheses etc, though unfortunately I did find his voice a little monotonous at times. Once again, it was all about straight up technical details - no room for frivolity here. The audio does a decent job of referencing pictures and diagrams in the print and e-book editions, though, so I wonder if seeing those images would alter a reading of this one and add a little more curiosity to the reading.
Some really interesting ideas here, but I think the author has designed it more to be a resource, rather than an interesting exploration that might appeal to all fans of uncovering dinosaur behaviour. I recommend it for those with a closer scientific knowledge, but casual dino fans might be a little underwhelmed.
With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC
Presented by Highbridge Audio
Aw man, there were a lot of big words in this book!
I'm a dino enthusiast, and I thought the narrator was fantastic, and yet somehow I still found it a little too hard to follow.
Very thorough, though.
This is more of a reference for people who work in a relevant field, so lots of technical terms for the uninitiated. I found it quite difficult to absorb the information because there were too many scientific names and terms to navigate before arriving at the point. Those who understand such terms, however, will find some interesting ideas.
Another thing that bothered me was its readiness to fence sit. I think reiterating the point that we can only speculate on many things related to dinosaur behaviour allows freedom TO speculate. Yet rather than do so, this book works its way AROUND things rather than drawing any possible conclusions in the face of no support.
Basically? I wish this book had more courage.
The narrator did a great job of pronouncing everything and differentiating between parentheses etc, though unfortunately I did find his voice a little monotonous at times. Once again, it was all about straight up technical details - no room for frivolity here. The audio does a decent job of referencing pictures and diagrams in the print and e-book editions, though, so I wonder if seeing those images would alter a reading of this one and add a little more curiosity to the reading.
Some really interesting ideas here, but I think the author has designed it more to be a resource, rather than an interesting exploration that might appeal to all fans of uncovering dinosaur behaviour. I recommend it for those with a closer scientific knowledge, but casual dino fans might be a little underwhelmed.
With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC
January 12, 2025
I'm always happy to see a new book about dinosaurs, but many casual readers will find this dry and at times heavy going; clearly the intended audience is academic. That said, the latest research and evidence are discussed, and thorough citations provided.
One comment: I expect a book from a university press to not have typos, and this one has a number, most of which may have been introduced during layout changes late in the production process. Do better, Princeton.
One comment: I expect a book from a university press to not have typos, and this one has a number, most of which may have been introduced during layout changes late in the production process. Do better, Princeton.
December 9, 2024
Huge thanks to Princeton University Press, NetGalley, and HighBridge Audio for the ARC. Graham Mack did a solid job, with a studious voice to match the subject matter. Although I wish I owned a physical so that I could have followed along with the examples!
Every once in a while, I find myself in need of something nonfiction to really clean the palette. But if I can manage to do so while also learning about dinosaurs, that’s even better. So when I saw the audio on NetGalley, I had to request it. The thing that struck me first and foremost about this, was the author’s aim to give as realistic of a viewing of dinosaurs as possible. While the date of when the first dinosaur fossil was discovered is often debated, did you know that we’ve learned shockingly little since then?
Of course for years people have heard that the dinosaurs on display in the Jurassic Park series are not entirely accurate. The type of raptors they claimed they were for example would be shorter and much more feathered apparently. Then there’s the even less believable movie, 65, starring Adam Driver, that not only showed a slew of dinosaurs together that were not even alive at the same time, but also seemingly made up their own as well. But did you know that shows the likes of Netflix’s Life On Our Planet, and Apple’s Prehistoric Planet aren’t entirely accurate either?
Due to the fact that none of these creatures still exist, it means that none of them can ever truly be studied, and therefore scientists are left with tons of guess work, inferring, and extrapolating. Most of which, has lead to what is considered to be correct today, but as the author points out, could just as easily be disproved tomorrow. The author points out how Trex eggs and nests have never been found, so not only do we not truly know how they mated and reproduced, but we cannot truly know if they guarded their nests or protected their young. Nor can we know if a single parent stayed or both (something popularized in The Lost World…). It just goes to show how little we really know. Even the concepts on group behavior could easily be disproved as the author points out that we cannot even prove that this was standard practice, something coming together due to happenstance, or tracks fossilized over time that weren’t even a group, just different passerby.
The author does a good job of displaying what we know and how we know it, while not knocking the thousands of others that have tried to learn more. As technology changes, and more fossils are inevitably discovered, that knowledge and guessing will continue on ad nauseam. It’s incredible to me just how much goes into, and how hard it is, being a scientist of any kind of.
https://fanfiaddict.com/review-uncove...
Every once in a while, I find myself in need of something nonfiction to really clean the palette. But if I can manage to do so while also learning about dinosaurs, that’s even better. So when I saw the audio on NetGalley, I had to request it. The thing that struck me first and foremost about this, was the author’s aim to give as realistic of a viewing of dinosaurs as possible. While the date of when the first dinosaur fossil was discovered is often debated, did you know that we’ve learned shockingly little since then?
Of course for years people have heard that the dinosaurs on display in the Jurassic Park series are not entirely accurate. The type of raptors they claimed they were for example would be shorter and much more feathered apparently. Then there’s the even less believable movie, 65, starring Adam Driver, that not only showed a slew of dinosaurs together that were not even alive at the same time, but also seemingly made up their own as well. But did you know that shows the likes of Netflix’s Life On Our Planet, and Apple’s Prehistoric Planet aren’t entirely accurate either?
Due to the fact that none of these creatures still exist, it means that none of them can ever truly be studied, and therefore scientists are left with tons of guess work, inferring, and extrapolating. Most of which, has lead to what is considered to be correct today, but as the author points out, could just as easily be disproved tomorrow. The author points out how Trex eggs and nests have never been found, so not only do we not truly know how they mated and reproduced, but we cannot truly know if they guarded their nests or protected their young. Nor can we know if a single parent stayed or both (something popularized in The Lost World…). It just goes to show how little we really know. Even the concepts on group behavior could easily be disproved as the author points out that we cannot even prove that this was standard practice, something coming together due to happenstance, or tracks fossilized over time that weren’t even a group, just different passerby.
The author does a good job of displaying what we know and how we know it, while not knocking the thousands of others that have tried to learn more. As technology changes, and more fossils are inevitably discovered, that knowledge and guessing will continue on ad nauseam. It’s incredible to me just how much goes into, and how hard it is, being a scientist of any kind of.
https://fanfiaddict.com/review-uncove...
April 15, 2025
Somewhat interesting, but it was written more like a scientific publication rather than a book with any real narrative. It should’ve been called “Uncovering dinosaur behavior: what they might have done and how we still don’t know what they did”. The illustrations were really beautiful though.
May 29, 2025
Do we know anything about dinosaurs? Maybe! Amazing illustrations
August 6, 2024
Reviewed for Library Journal; full review appears there.
January 22, 2025
A fascinating exploration of what is currently known about how dinosaurs behaved and where the research should go next. Hone describes dinosaurs as the living, breathing creatures that they were, rather than static fossils, making for an engaging read. This book is scientific literature and has some big words (shock horror, there's science in my science book!) however, I found little unnecessary jargon and very few acronyms, and the tone was generally conversational. I'd say it's a relatively easy read for anyone with a biology background or a good foundation of dinosaur knowledge, and I particularly enjoyed the case studies used to summarise each chapter.
I also loved the illustrations. There was an excellent balance of text and figures, and the colour illustrations were incredibly detailed and absolutely gorgeous. I think the illustrator did a fantastic job. The editors/publisher, however, did a shocking job proof reading – how did they manage to leave so many typos? It doesn't detract from the overall quality of the text, but hopefully these get fixed in future.
I also loved the illustrations. There was an excellent balance of text and figures, and the colour illustrations were incredibly detailed and absolutely gorgeous. I think the illustrator did a fantastic job. The editors/publisher, however, did a shocking job proof reading – how did they manage to leave so many typos? It doesn't detract from the overall quality of the text, but hopefully these get fixed in future.
February 10, 2025
For years I often told people that I wished there were more non fiction dinosaur books for grown ups. This was the one I was waiting for! It used a lot of academic jargon but I understood the gist of it.
I loved this and I plan on reading it again. I only had the Audio version but I hope to get the physical version of it for a re-read. I sounds like I missed a lot of stuff based on how often the narrator referenced the images.
I loved this and I plan on reading it again. I only had the Audio version but I hope to get the physical version of it for a re-read. I sounds like I missed a lot of stuff based on how often the narrator referenced the images.
February 5, 2025
Great overview for a dinosaur noob. But honestly, the first two chapters are filled with so much self-doubt... it's okay David, I understand you don't know everything about the million of year old extinct group.. it's really okay...
Perfect for an intro to the field and finding references of cool papers.
Perfect for an intro to the field and finding references of cool papers.
January 14, 2025
Uncovering Dinosaur Behavior is a a book that is at the forefront of the modern study of dinosaurs, and is one that does an outstanding job at appreciating them for the living creatures they were. Hone takes a very thorough, albeit conservative, approach in his discussion, and raises many interesting points. As Hone reiterates many times, it’s very hard to know how an animal that’s been extinct for millions of years behaved, but this book is a fantastic culmination of everything we know and everything we can make an informed guess about. Though a bit hard to follow at times, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested the subject.
July 3, 2025
So close, yet so dino-far ( www.amazon.com/review/R34MW3UX2P0YCJ/... ): 4/5
I originally expected to like Hone's "Uncovering Dinosaur Behavior: What They Did and How We Know" (henceforth UD) more than Lomax's "Locked in Time" (which I reviewed: www.goodreads.com/review/show/6991349141 ), partly because UD focuses on dinos & partly because it's illustrated by Ugueto (whose art style works MUCH better in black-&-white than Nicholls's).* However, if I had to pick between recommending 1 book or the other, I'd pick Lomax's. While both are good books with problems that keep them from being great, Lomax's book problems seem like the inevitable frustrations of publishing. Meanwhile, UD's problems seem MUCH more avoidable, making it all the more frustrating how close-yet-far it is from greatness (hence the title of this review).**
1) The best way I can describe UD's main problem is as unintentional bathos (See "Bathos Definition": https://archive.ph/ZmVXP ). More specifically, while UD is mostly good at "steer[ing] a middle course covering[...]the consensus opinion among dinosaur researchers" ( www.goodreads.com/review/show/3510412805 ), a few chapters end with 1 or more frustratingly-major misrepresentations. This is especially apparent when you compare the case study in UD's Chapter 4 (See the 1st Hone quote) with "Dinosaur Death Trap" in Lomax's book:
-Despite discussing Maxwell & Ostrom 1995, UD doesn't even mention MOR 682. See #2 in this link for why that's a problem: www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-...
-UD does address some of Roach & Brinkman 2007's many problems, but it also perpetuates others: 1 problem is the alleged "lack of evidence for coordinated hunting of large prey by extant archosaurs" (See Ellis et al. 1993 & the sources cited therein for a non-lack of evidence: www.researchgate.net/publication/2478... ); Another problem is the Komodo dragon analogy; Again, see #2 in this link for why that's a problem: www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-...
-UD does refer to Utahraptor, but it does so as "only one other dromaeosaur[...]known from sites representing multiple individuals[...]and this may be a predator trap": 1stly, said claim ignores the several examples of "tracks made by gregarious, raptor-like" dinos ( https://web.archive.org/web/201807030... ); 2ndly, said claim implies that packs & predator traps are mutually exclusive, but they actually aren't (See the Lomax quote as well as the paper in this link: https://web.archive.org/web/202503310... ).
-On a related note, Chapter 8 ends with similarly-frustrating main text (See the 2nd Hone quote): For 1, the "allosauroids" part ignores "abundant evidence from[...]Wyoming, that the great Jurassic carnivores of the allosaur family did, indeed, do just that" (E.g. See Bakker 1997 as well as "The Feeding Ground" in Lomax's book: https://archive.ph/wTeNy ); For another, the Deinonychus part is based on Frederickson et al. 2020, which is very flawed for reasons I discuss elsewhere (See "New #1 Contender" in this link; TLDR, its results don't really support its conclusions & it ignores A LOT of contradictory evidence: www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-... ).
2) UD's lesser-but-still-noteworthy problems are some weird writing (E.g. The bolded sentences in the 1st Hone quote are both repetitive & typo-ed) & blurry photos (E.g. There's a dead antelope in Figure 4.4, but heck if I can see it: https://archive.ph/v3hbG ), both of which are best summed up in I. Saunders's review ( https://archive.ph/lAqkN ).
*To be fair, I like Nicholls's colored work MUCH more than Ugueto's. That said, I like Ugueto's UD work more than most of his other colored work. The cover in particular, besides being very verdant, reminds me of Lambert's "DK Guide to Dinosaurs" (which is very nostalgic to me: https://archive.ph/6IMQP ).
**In reference to the wordplay, "I...I dunno…I'm tired" ( https://archive.ph/Cpcvy ).
Quoting Hone: "CASE STUDY: Evidence for Pack Hunting in Dromaeosaurs
The center of this work is the large (for a dromaeosaur) Deinonychus from the Early Cretaceous Aptian-Albian Cloverly Formation of the western United States. This discovery of this genus was an important part of the recognition that birds evolved from dinosaurs, but it was also interesting as this included the discovery of multiple individuals preserved together in association with a skeleton of the early ornithopod Tenontosaurus. It was suggested that this was evidence that a group of these dromaeosaurs had hunted together to bring down the large prey animal, in the manner of modern canids[...]Deinonychus remains (especially shed teeth) are known from around a third of the sites that also contained Tenontosaurus, suggesting the possibility of a genuine ecological relationship between the two,[...]although this association is perhaps not surprising as the herbivore is the most common dinosaur in the formation. Of these fossil localities, he most important for hypotheses of coordinated predation is one site with the remains of at least four partial Deinonychus skeletons in association with that of a single Tenontosaurus (figure 4.7)."
Quoting Lomax: "The presence of multiple Utahraptor individuals representing a growth series, and particularly the identification of several chicken-sized babies, strongly suggests that this was—in part, at least—a family. However, the geology of the site and the sandstone block in which the near-pristine bones are contained shows that this group had a particularly gruesome, sticky ending. They were trapped in quicksand.
This epic fossil appears to represent a predator trap. Seemingly, the herbivorous dinosaurs were the first to get stuck in the quicksand, and, attracted by the prospect of an easy meal, one by one the Utahraptor group found themselves mired as well. Although the family scenario seems most likely, that Utahraptor cared for its young and lived in groups (or packs), another interpretation is that the association might represent a combination of a family and a series of lone individuals. Whatever the exact scenario of their demise, all of these unlucky raptors were trapped, killed, and subsequently buried, the first evidence of multiple dinosaurs having fallen victim to quicksand."
Quoting Hone: "Ontogeny would also be in play in carnivores, on the same basic premise as in herbivores: juvenile animals that were perhaps 0.01 percent or less of adult mass (in the case of giant tyrannosaurs or allosauroids) can hardly have been targeting the same prey in the same way as adults, nor would they have been able to process carcasses that adults could. This becomes clearer with, for example, the changes in tooth shape, skull size, and leg length as the juveniles of large tyrannosaurs matured, indicating that young animals shifted niches quite significantly as they grew (probably multiple times in the case of very large taxa), and likely took in different foods in fundamentally different ways than adults[...]Evidence for diet shifts are also seen in dromaeosaurs, with the North American Deinonychus showing differences in isotopic signature of tooth enamel of older and younger animals—suggesting different diets for the two, and also arguing against multigenerational group hunting."
I originally expected to like Hone's "Uncovering Dinosaur Behavior: What They Did and How We Know" (henceforth UD) more than Lomax's "Locked in Time" (which I reviewed: www.goodreads.com/review/show/6991349141 ), partly because UD focuses on dinos & partly because it's illustrated by Ugueto (whose art style works MUCH better in black-&-white than Nicholls's).* However, if I had to pick between recommending 1 book or the other, I'd pick Lomax's. While both are good books with problems that keep them from being great, Lomax's book problems seem like the inevitable frustrations of publishing. Meanwhile, UD's problems seem MUCH more avoidable, making it all the more frustrating how close-yet-far it is from greatness (hence the title of this review).**
1) The best way I can describe UD's main problem is as unintentional bathos (See "Bathos Definition": https://archive.ph/ZmVXP ). More specifically, while UD is mostly good at "steer[ing] a middle course covering[...]the consensus opinion among dinosaur researchers" ( www.goodreads.com/review/show/3510412805 ), a few chapters end with 1 or more frustratingly-major misrepresentations. This is especially apparent when you compare the case study in UD's Chapter 4 (See the 1st Hone quote) with "Dinosaur Death Trap" in Lomax's book:
-Despite discussing Maxwell & Ostrom 1995, UD doesn't even mention MOR 682. See #2 in this link for why that's a problem: www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-...
-UD does address some of Roach & Brinkman 2007's many problems, but it also perpetuates others: 1 problem is the alleged "lack of evidence for coordinated hunting of large prey by extant archosaurs" (See Ellis et al. 1993 & the sources cited therein for a non-lack of evidence: www.researchgate.net/publication/2478... ); Another problem is the Komodo dragon analogy; Again, see #2 in this link for why that's a problem: www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-...
-UD does refer to Utahraptor, but it does so as "only one other dromaeosaur[...]known from sites representing multiple individuals[...]and this may be a predator trap": 1stly, said claim ignores the several examples of "tracks made by gregarious, raptor-like" dinos ( https://web.archive.org/web/201807030... ); 2ndly, said claim implies that packs & predator traps are mutually exclusive, but they actually aren't (See the Lomax quote as well as the paper in this link: https://web.archive.org/web/202503310... ).
-On a related note, Chapter 8 ends with similarly-frustrating main text (See the 2nd Hone quote): For 1, the "allosauroids" part ignores "abundant evidence from[...]Wyoming, that the great Jurassic carnivores of the allosaur family did, indeed, do just that" (E.g. See Bakker 1997 as well as "The Feeding Ground" in Lomax's book: https://archive.ph/wTeNy ); For another, the Deinonychus part is based on Frederickson et al. 2020, which is very flawed for reasons I discuss elsewhere (See "New #1 Contender" in this link; TLDR, its results don't really support its conclusions & it ignores A LOT of contradictory evidence: www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-... ).
2) UD's lesser-but-still-noteworthy problems are some weird writing (E.g. The bolded sentences in the 1st Hone quote are both repetitive & typo-ed) & blurry photos (E.g. There's a dead antelope in Figure 4.4, but heck if I can see it: https://archive.ph/v3hbG ), both of which are best summed up in I. Saunders's review ( https://archive.ph/lAqkN ).
*To be fair, I like Nicholls's colored work MUCH more than Ugueto's. That said, I like Ugueto's UD work more than most of his other colored work. The cover in particular, besides being very verdant, reminds me of Lambert's "DK Guide to Dinosaurs" (which is very nostalgic to me: https://archive.ph/6IMQP ).
**In reference to the wordplay, "I...I dunno…I'm tired" ( https://archive.ph/Cpcvy ).
Quoting Hone: "CASE STUDY: Evidence for Pack Hunting in Dromaeosaurs
The center of this work is the large (for a dromaeosaur) Deinonychus from the Early Cretaceous Aptian-Albian Cloverly Formation of the western United States. This discovery of this genus was an important part of the recognition that birds evolved from dinosaurs, but it was also interesting as this included the discovery of multiple individuals preserved together in association with a skeleton of the early ornithopod Tenontosaurus. It was suggested that this was evidence that a group of these dromaeosaurs had hunted together to bring down the large prey animal, in the manner of modern canids[...]Deinonychus remains (especially shed teeth) are known from around a third of the sites that also contained Tenontosaurus, suggesting the possibility of a genuine ecological relationship between the two,[...]although this association is perhaps not surprising as the herbivore is the most common dinosaur in the formation. Of these fossil localities, he most important for hypotheses of coordinated predation is one site with the remains of at least four partial Deinonychus skeletons in association with that of a single Tenontosaurus (figure 4.7)."
Quoting Lomax: "The presence of multiple Utahraptor individuals representing a growth series, and particularly the identification of several chicken-sized babies, strongly suggests that this was—in part, at least—a family. However, the geology of the site and the sandstone block in which the near-pristine bones are contained shows that this group had a particularly gruesome, sticky ending. They were trapped in quicksand.
This epic fossil appears to represent a predator trap. Seemingly, the herbivorous dinosaurs were the first to get stuck in the quicksand, and, attracted by the prospect of an easy meal, one by one the Utahraptor group found themselves mired as well. Although the family scenario seems most likely, that Utahraptor cared for its young and lived in groups (or packs), another interpretation is that the association might represent a combination of a family and a series of lone individuals. Whatever the exact scenario of their demise, all of these unlucky raptors were trapped, killed, and subsequently buried, the first evidence of multiple dinosaurs having fallen victim to quicksand."
Quoting Hone: "Ontogeny would also be in play in carnivores, on the same basic premise as in herbivores: juvenile animals that were perhaps 0.01 percent or less of adult mass (in the case of giant tyrannosaurs or allosauroids) can hardly have been targeting the same prey in the same way as adults, nor would they have been able to process carcasses that adults could. This becomes clearer with, for example, the changes in tooth shape, skull size, and leg length as the juveniles of large tyrannosaurs matured, indicating that young animals shifted niches quite significantly as they grew (probably multiple times in the case of very large taxa), and likely took in different foods in fundamentally different ways than adults[...]Evidence for diet shifts are also seen in dromaeosaurs, with the North American Deinonychus showing differences in isotopic signature of tooth enamel of older and younger animals—suggesting different diets for the two, and also arguing against multigenerational group hunting."
December 16, 2024
TV nature programmes leave me cold, but I was quite interested in Walking with Dinosaurs, which arguably picked up on the impact of Jurassic Park to give us a vivid visual exploration of dino life. The main problem with it was that the makers made assertions as if fact that could not have been more than hypothesis about the details of dinosaur appearance and behaviour, so the subtitle of this book 'What they did and how we know' (my italics) really caught my attention.
To be honest, my first thoughts were not wholly positive when in the first page of chapter 1 I read 'Throughout this book I will refer to dinosaurs and Dinosauria as a paraphyletic group' - although David Hone goes on with 'therefore excluding both Mesozoic and modern birds unless explicitly stated otherwise' - most potential readers, like me probably still aren't really clear what paraphyletic means. This is sold as for the general public, but a more care with the editing might have ensured that it avoided some of the unnecessary terminology biologists and palaeontologists are distictly fond of.
I'll only give one more example 'The archosaurs are united in the presence of an antorbital fenestra' - good to know. Hone then gives a definition of this term, but why did we need to know it in the first place? Unnecessary labelling, as Richard Feynman pointed out, is the bane of biology when trying to communicate with a wider audience.
Without doubt, Hone does go on to provide some fascinating information on dinosaur behaviour, deduced from a combination of the fossil record and the behaviour, for example, of their living descendants, the birds and even of many vaguely equivalent mammals. This does sometimes still feel distinctly speculative, but (unlike the TV show) the wording largely indicates where this is the case, with comments like 'dinosaurs likely had excellent color vision' rather than stating it as fact. In a nod to the non-academic audience there are some attractive colour plates by Gabriel Ugueto, though these are collected together in the old-fashioned way, and as a result don't relate easily to the text.
I really wanted to like this book, and it does without doubt give a whole range of insights from use of camouflage to the purpose of Stegosaurus tail spikes. But the writing style really lets it down. It used to be that I often had to say that an academic author would benefit from a professional writer as co-author. This is far less the case these days, with some excellent academic popular science writers, but unfortunately it does apply here.
To be honest, my first thoughts were not wholly positive when in the first page of chapter 1 I read 'Throughout this book I will refer to dinosaurs and Dinosauria as a paraphyletic group' - although David Hone goes on with 'therefore excluding both Mesozoic and modern birds unless explicitly stated otherwise' - most potential readers, like me probably still aren't really clear what paraphyletic means. This is sold as for the general public, but a more care with the editing might have ensured that it avoided some of the unnecessary terminology biologists and palaeontologists are distictly fond of.
I'll only give one more example 'The archosaurs are united in the presence of an antorbital fenestra' - good to know. Hone then gives a definition of this term, but why did we need to know it in the first place? Unnecessary labelling, as Richard Feynman pointed out, is the bane of biology when trying to communicate with a wider audience.
Without doubt, Hone does go on to provide some fascinating information on dinosaur behaviour, deduced from a combination of the fossil record and the behaviour, for example, of their living descendants, the birds and even of many vaguely equivalent mammals. This does sometimes still feel distinctly speculative, but (unlike the TV show) the wording largely indicates where this is the case, with comments like 'dinosaurs likely had excellent color vision' rather than stating it as fact. In a nod to the non-academic audience there are some attractive colour plates by Gabriel Ugueto, though these are collected together in the old-fashioned way, and as a result don't relate easily to the text.
I really wanted to like this book, and it does without doubt give a whole range of insights from use of camouflage to the purpose of Stegosaurus tail spikes. But the writing style really lets it down. It used to be that I often had to say that an academic author would benefit from a professional writer as co-author. This is far less the case these days, with some excellent academic popular science writers, but unfortunately it does apply here.
November 5, 2024
It’s amazing the way our knowledge of dinosaurs has advanced with modern technology. Their behavior, however, remains elusive. Short of a time machine, scientists have been applying what they’ve learned from fossils to try to deduce how they lived and acted. This book is about what paleontologists know, what they can imply from the fossil record, and what they simply have no way of finding out, yet. The author discusses all the current theories and explains how they were formulated, proven or disproven and what we can learn from them. Much of it is also based on the behavior of extant animals. With this book, I not only learned about dinosaurs, but also Komodo dragons and giraffes. The author gives examples of different scenarios that could cause misunderstandings, such as ignoring sexual dimorphism or herd behavior. Despite the audiobook including a printed guide, I’m not familiar enough with dinosaurs to understand which ones he was discussing (except for the T-Rex, of course), so an internet connection helped me there. I enjoyed Graham Mack’s narration, because he sounds like a knowledgeable professor. I can’t wait for the results of current studies, including the addition of ethologists to these teams.
I chose to listen to this audiobook and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/HighBridge Audio.
I chose to listen to this audiobook and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/HighBridge Audio.
December 20, 2024
Very good and detailed, but requires a good base knowledge of paleontology and biology to understand
This book is super detailed and very informative! Being honest, this is the first scientific book I've picked up since middle school, and it was a great reentry into nonfiction!
The book is separated into specific sections, and within those sections describes both specific examples of dinosaur behavior we have direct fossil evidence for as well as general concepts and trends that can be applied to many species.
Each chapter also ends with a case study going into detail about the behaviors of a specific species, which were amazing to read! Because of how specific the species and question was, it allowed for the author to go into a lot of depth in their explanation.
The artwork was also amazing! Gabriel Ugueto did an amazing job with all of the different dinosaurs and situations he was asked to make!
You will need a decent amount of base knowledge of biology, paleontology, and the terms associated with both in order to understand this book though. There's lots of big words and specific phrases that you'd need a good amount of background knowledge to understand, but as long as you have that knowledge or are willing to stop and Google a lot I'd highly recommend this book!
This book is super detailed and very informative! Being honest, this is the first scientific book I've picked up since middle school, and it was a great reentry into nonfiction!
The book is separated into specific sections, and within those sections describes both specific examples of dinosaur behavior we have direct fossil evidence for as well as general concepts and trends that can be applied to many species.
Each chapter also ends with a case study going into detail about the behaviors of a specific species, which were amazing to read! Because of how specific the species and question was, it allowed for the author to go into a lot of depth in their explanation.
The artwork was also amazing! Gabriel Ugueto did an amazing job with all of the different dinosaurs and situations he was asked to make!
You will need a decent amount of base knowledge of biology, paleontology, and the terms associated with both in order to understand this book though. There's lots of big words and specific phrases that you'd need a good amount of background knowledge to understand, but as long as you have that knowledge or are willing to stop and Google a lot I'd highly recommend this book!
December 8, 2024
Uncovering Dinosaur Behaviour by David Hone is an examination of how dinosaur behaviour can be interpreted, how it’s been misinterpreted in the past, and how much is now known. He discusses the dangers of biases in interpretation, and the importance of basing any conclusions on a large pool of evidence rather than on one fossil, as well as the limits even then to what can be surmised about dinosaur behaviours. I will admit I wasn’t always able to fully understand the subject matter. This isn’t a book aimed at an amateur like me with an interest in, but only a limited knowledge of, dinosaurs. This is an in-depth look at the subject and Hone, who is a Palaeontologist, uses many technical terms.
Still, having said this, I will follow by saying. I found this book extremely interesting and definitely feel I learned quite a lot. Hone’s writing is clear, concise, objective, but also shows his passion for his subject and the importance of avoiding biases when trying to understand dinosaur behaviours.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Graham Mack who does an excellent job.
Thanks to Netgalley and HighBridge Audio for the opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for an honest review
Still, having said this, I will follow by saying. I found this book extremely interesting and definitely feel I learned quite a lot. Hone’s writing is clear, concise, objective, but also shows his passion for his subject and the importance of avoiding biases when trying to understand dinosaur behaviours.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Graham Mack who does an excellent job.
Thanks to Netgalley and HighBridge Audio for the opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for an honest review
November 14, 2024
audio-ARC from NetGalley.
This was an interesting - if, at times, frustrating - book. I wanted to be a paleontologist until I was, like, 16, so that part of me found all of this fascinating. But the book felt like it was 99% disclaimer, reminding the reader that we actually don't know anything about dinosaurs & are just asking wild guesses off of individual samples.
That being said, the segments on what we do know, on what we've found, on what the fossils and skeletons tell us? I was eating it up. The varying theories on nest formation, communal egg laying, young rearing, and the discovery of juvenile only herds were so illuminating. The ideas on how they fought - against predators & each other - were equally intriguing, especially as we got into how researchers came to these conclusions by observing the locations of healed injuries, what would have had to happen to create those injuries in the first place, where an animal's greatest areas of protection were, etc.
What stuck with me most fervently, though, was learning that the world's most intact spinosaurus remains were destroyed in WWII & that's why we don't know more about them.
This was an interesting - if, at times, frustrating - book. I wanted to be a paleontologist until I was, like, 16, so that part of me found all of this fascinating. But the book felt like it was 99% disclaimer, reminding the reader that we actually don't know anything about dinosaurs & are just asking wild guesses off of individual samples.
That being said, the segments on what we do know, on what we've found, on what the fossils and skeletons tell us? I was eating it up. The varying theories on nest formation, communal egg laying, young rearing, and the discovery of juvenile only herds were so illuminating. The ideas on how they fought - against predators & each other - were equally intriguing, especially as we got into how researchers came to these conclusions by observing the locations of healed injuries, what would have had to happen to create those injuries in the first place, where an animal's greatest areas of protection were, etc.
What stuck with me most fervently, though, was learning that the world's most intact spinosaurus remains were destroyed in WWII & that's why we don't know more about them.
April 19, 2025
2.5 stars, rounded down to 2.
It's a shame when a book is well-researched, but not well-written (or, at the least, not well-edited). It's doubly so here as the author, David Hone, has such interesting and enlightening things to say on not just the general current consensus of dinosaur behaviors, but how we investigated them, the merits of those investigations, and how we should continue those investigations in the future. I liked this book for the content, but I would have loved it if I didn't have to spend some sentences reverse-engineering what the author was trying to say because of all the typos. This is on top of an already highly academic writing style -- which is fine for the record, but it does make it particularly hard to follow in cases when commas are placed oddly or, again, there are typos. When this book gets republished for a 10th anniversary, I will gladly pick up the (hopefully) better-written edition. Until then, 2(.5) stars from me.
It's a shame when a book is well-researched, but not well-written (or, at the least, not well-edited). It's doubly so here as the author, David Hone, has such interesting and enlightening things to say on not just the general current consensus of dinosaur behaviors, but how we investigated them, the merits of those investigations, and how we should continue those investigations in the future. I liked this book for the content, but I would have loved it if I didn't have to spend some sentences reverse-engineering what the author was trying to say because of all the typos. This is on top of an already highly academic writing style -- which is fine for the record, but it does make it particularly hard to follow in cases when commas are placed oddly or, again, there are typos. When this book gets republished for a 10th anniversary, I will gladly pick up the (hopefully) better-written edition. Until then, 2(.5) stars from me.
November 9, 2024
It was good to think about how difficult it is to figure out how dinosaurs behaved when all we have are fossils. The fossils consist of remains (skeletons, footprints, eggs, etc) of animals, sometimes in close proximity to another animal's remains. But these have to be interpreted. If scientists see footprints of a carnivore that seem to show it chasing what may be a prey animal, does that mean a preditor/prey relationship is proven? No - we don't know the time lapse between when the sets of footprints were made. We don't know if this was a common occurance, or extrememly unusual. And I certainly didn't know that scientists could figure out so much by looking at bone structure, how teeth are worn down, or whether nests were exposed to the air or buried.
I listened to the audio and thought the narrator was good. Interesting read.
I listened to the audio and thought the narrator was good. Interesting read.
December 11, 2024
This book has some good info, and very thorough. But for a book that's tag line is "What they did and how we know," the whole thing can be summed up by saying we don't really know in most situations. There is a LOT that doesn't get preserved in the fossil record, and even that which does could be entirely situational instead of regular occurrence because we just don't have multiple examples of well preserved examples to actually prove certain behaviors.
I also struggled with this one as an audio book. The narrator is very monotone. It was somewhat interesting, but as a whole the book felt like being in a college course that only has occasionally interesting moments. It does claim to be written for everyone, but it tends to be a book that would be better if this is your field of study.
I also struggled with this one as an audio book. The narrator is very monotone. It was somewhat interesting, but as a whole the book felt like being in a college course that only has occasionally interesting moments. It does claim to be written for everyone, but it tends to be a book that would be better if this is your field of study.
January 5, 2025
Thank you NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for the ARC of this audiobook for my honest review
This book feels like the author was told to write and essay on dinosaurs and when doing the research realized most information were theories but had already titled the book. I would’ve preferred if the theories were turned into fiction cause then it would atleast be entertaining. It’s hard to feel bored and have not even learnt much. I learnt more from the short appendix than any of the rest of the book. I think this book is more about learning not to over interpret data. The way it’s written also makes it feel like facts and theories are just being vomited at me. If you’re interested in Dino theories get this book but otherwise I can’t find a positive.
This book feels like the author was told to write and essay on dinosaurs and when doing the research realized most information were theories but had already titled the book. I would’ve preferred if the theories were turned into fiction cause then it would atleast be entertaining. It’s hard to feel bored and have not even learnt much. I learnt more from the short appendix than any of the rest of the book. I think this book is more about learning not to over interpret data. The way it’s written also makes it feel like facts and theories are just being vomited at me. If you’re interested in Dino theories get this book but otherwise I can’t find a positive.
August 15, 2025
I really wanted to love this book. It's incredibly well researched, with hundreds of sources cited, and the author has a clear passion for science and paleontology. My issue with this book is its severe amount of typos and inability to indulge in any amount of proclaimed speculation. The author always sits on the fence and never takes a side on what he thinks is likely. I must say that I respect the way David Hone speaks so factually, but I felt as though he could have gone deeper into the scientific process (the "how we know" part of the book), at the cost of challenging the average reader who does not know as much about paleontology. Overall, it was a very well researched book that's great for anyone looking to know more about dinosaurs and how they lived their lives.
April 15, 2025
I think this one would have been better for me if I was reading it as a book. I think some combination of the technicality of the topic and the language used made me zone out, and it would have been nice to flip back to earlier sections easily. I could tell it was well researched and reasonably accessible to the layman, but the audiobook form wasn't great for me with this one.
Also note that the audio version makes numerous references to diagrams, etc. but the audiobook does not have a digital download of visual materials like many audiobooks do. Instead, they just say "go look at it on the print or ebook."
I received a free ALC for library employees from Libro.fm.
Also note that the audio version makes numerous references to diagrams, etc. but the audiobook does not have a digital download of visual materials like many audiobooks do. Instead, they just say "go look at it on the print or ebook."
I received a free ALC for library employees from Libro.fm.
Read
July 15, 2025Uncovering Dinosaur Behavior: What They Did and How We Know is a fascinating review of the emerging field of dinosaur behavioural studies. The novel looks at the past, current, and developing methods for reconstructing how dinosaurs lived and acted and also details the challenges of studying the behaviour of these long-extinct animals. Hone’s writing style is thorough, but his conversational tone makes it accessible to most readers—even those with only a foundational knowledge of the relevant scientific fields, like myself. Overall, this is a great read for those who are intrigued by zoology and palaeontology, but also may interest those who are more broadly into history or science.
September 2, 2025
A little dry, but I learned a lot about dinosaurs! Not really accessible to someone without a biology background, which I think was the author’s intent. It was fun to think about evolutionary ecology again. I picked this book up based on the promise of explanations on how we learn about dinosaur behavior, and in that area it really delivered. So interesting to consider the limits of fossils and traces. The explanation of dinosaur taxonomy in the appendix really appreciated. Short but dense, if anything, I wish the case studies were longer and more numerous. A great sleepy time book, so plus one star for that.
January 12, 2025
Easy, accessible read for anyone with an amateur’s understanding of dinosaurs and/or animal behavior in general. Illustrations (pictures and drawings) are super useful in clarifying technical scientific language. A concise book, left me wanting more but as a primer on the subject matter it’s superb.
A few typos and a slightly stilted foreword but once you get into the real content the writing is crisp and knows what it’s doing. Might be a challenge for those who have no experience with scientific literature at all, it’s not a kids’ book.
A few typos and a slightly stilted foreword but once you get into the real content the writing is crisp and knows what it’s doing. Might be a challenge for those who have no experience with scientific literature at all, it’s not a kids’ book.
July 15, 2025
This is not a beginner's guide to dinosaurs, and I found it a bit (a lot) above my head in places. What I especially enjoyed about this book, in spite of my own intellectual shortcomings, is that it pulls back the curtain on the scientific process of studying dinosaurs. The big takeaway here is that knowing the details of the lives of animals long extinct involves much uncertainty. The book’s many illustrations and photographs add clarity to the text. Notes for further research, an index, and a handy reference of dinosaur clades are also helpful.
December 30, 2024
Thank you, NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for this ARC audiobook for review. This book has a ton of interesting facts and details about different dinosaurs. I listened to this on audiobook and I think had a I read this book myself and had the book and pictures in front of me I would have understood more of what the author was saying. This is not on the author as he did a great job with research and the narrator did a fantastic job.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews