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Walking with dinosaurs: The evidence
This book covers the research processes that contributed to the BBC TV series "Walking with Dinosaurs". How was the information obtained, what suppositions have been made and how did this translate to the programme? Creatures featured include ceratopsians, iguanodontids and ankylosaurs.
176 pages, Paperback
First published September 28, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 9, 2018
"The Evidence goes beyond the fascinating material in Walking with Dinosaurs, the best-selling book that accompanied the phenomenally successful TV series.
"The Evidence covers the methods of the research processes that formed the backbone of the series. How was the information obtained, what suppositions have been made, and how did this translate to the programs?
"Around 250 million years ago dinosaurs first began to walk the earth, dominating the planet until their extinction 6.5 million years ago. In this incredible Mesozoic period lasting 170 million years, these creatures were the dominant animals on land. Walking with Dinosaurs -- The Evidence explores the archeologists' and scientists' discoveries and shows how they piece together the lives of these fascinating creatures. Comprehensively illustrated, the book explains how the bones of dinosaurs and the ground in which they're found in can lead to conclusions about feeding habits, movement, mating, habitat, and the climate of the time.
"David Martill is a Senior Research Fellow in Paleontology at the University of Portsmouth, England, and was a consultant on Walking with Dinosaurs. He has written several books on paleontology and regularly contributes articles to many scientific journals, including Geoscientist and Geology Today.
"Darren Naish is a postgraduate researcher in the School of Earth, Environmental and Physical Sciences at the University of Portsmouth, England. His articles have appeared in Geoscientist and other scientific journals."
~~back cover
First let me say that if you haven't watched the Walking with Dinosaurs DVDs, you should do so at once! Although they're 18 years old now, they're still incredible portrayals of life in the Masozoic Era. My grandson and I watched them over and over when he was little -- I wasn't bored -- there was always something new to see, and of course I always marveled at the life-like realism.
This book is written for the average person (not a fellow paleontologist) and therefore is clear and jargon-free. I found it very interesting to get this "behind the scenes" information, and learned things I didn't know. I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about dinosaurs -- how they evolved, how they lived, and how they died.
"The Evidence covers the methods of the research processes that formed the backbone of the series. How was the information obtained, what suppositions have been made, and how did this translate to the programs?
"Around 250 million years ago dinosaurs first began to walk the earth, dominating the planet until their extinction 6.5 million years ago. In this incredible Mesozoic period lasting 170 million years, these creatures were the dominant animals on land. Walking with Dinosaurs -- The Evidence explores the archeologists' and scientists' discoveries and shows how they piece together the lives of these fascinating creatures. Comprehensively illustrated, the book explains how the bones of dinosaurs and the ground in which they're found in can lead to conclusions about feeding habits, movement, mating, habitat, and the climate of the time.
"David Martill is a Senior Research Fellow in Paleontology at the University of Portsmouth, England, and was a consultant on Walking with Dinosaurs. He has written several books on paleontology and regularly contributes articles to many scientific journals, including Geoscientist and Geology Today.
"Darren Naish is a postgraduate researcher in the School of Earth, Environmental and Physical Sciences at the University of Portsmouth, England. His articles have appeared in Geoscientist and other scientific journals."
~~back cover
First let me say that if you haven't watched the Walking with Dinosaurs DVDs, you should do so at once! Although they're 18 years old now, they're still incredible portrayals of life in the Masozoic Era. My grandson and I watched them over and over when he was little -- I wasn't bored -- there was always something new to see, and of course I always marveled at the life-like realism.
This book is written for the average person (not a fellow paleontologist) and therefore is clear and jargon-free. I found it very interesting to get this "behind the scenes" information, and learned things I didn't know. I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about dinosaurs -- how they evolved, how they lived, and how they died.
August 16, 2018
Came across this in a used book shop, and what a delightful find. Yes, it is a product of the paleontology of its time and now quite dated, it is still a joy to read and I’ll be rewatching the series tonight.
Certainly written for the non-scientist, but not childish either, as many dinosaur books can be. It discusses the fossil evidence used in the reconstructions, talks about studies used to infer behaviors, and notes where what was seen in the episodes was based on assumptions or inferences from related species or similar modern ecological equivalents.
My main issues with the book are one, some of the stills taken from the episodes are blurry. Two, it needs more diagrams or images of key fossils, notably when there is a description about things such as on p. 156 in reference to ankylosaur tails “Interlocking bony projections and ligaments enabled it to be held in this way...”. Conjuring up the proper mental image is difficult for the non-paleontologist, or at least for me. Lastly, a few sentences ended with exclamation marks that felt a bit childish and out of place.
Overall, however, it was a fun read and a reminder of how exciting the series was when released almost 20 years ago and a reminder that it’s well past time for a newer, updated series.
Certainly written for the non-scientist, but not childish either, as many dinosaur books can be. It discusses the fossil evidence used in the reconstructions, talks about studies used to infer behaviors, and notes where what was seen in the episodes was based on assumptions or inferences from related species or similar modern ecological equivalents.
My main issues with the book are one, some of the stills taken from the episodes are blurry. Two, it needs more diagrams or images of key fossils, notably when there is a description about things such as on p. 156 in reference to ankylosaur tails “Interlocking bony projections and ligaments enabled it to be held in this way...”. Conjuring up the proper mental image is difficult for the non-paleontologist, or at least for me. Lastly, a few sentences ended with exclamation marks that felt a bit childish and out of place.
Overall, however, it was a fun read and a reminder of how exciting the series was when released almost 20 years ago and a reminder that it’s well past time for a newer, updated series.
March 30, 2020
I got this not long after the series had originally aired on the BBC.
Looks at each episode in detail and explains which dinosaurs were chosen to be in them, the reason why, and how they came to decisions about beaviour and look of them.
They explain that some of their choices were more by inference due to a lack of archaeological data, but where they could they went with what scientists tended to agree on. Although it's possible that by now new theories exist, at least everything is given a context.
Well illustrated with scenes from the series and some supporting images from museums, this is an interesting look at the choices behind the epiosdes.
Looks at each episode in detail and explains which dinosaurs were chosen to be in them, the reason why, and how they came to decisions about beaviour and look of them.
They explain that some of their choices were more by inference due to a lack of archaeological data, but where they could they went with what scientists tended to agree on. Although it's possible that by now new theories exist, at least everything is given a context.
Well illustrated with scenes from the series and some supporting images from museums, this is an interesting look at the choices behind the epiosdes.
June 29, 2025
This was a really fun read, all about the fossil evidence that was behind the Walking With Dinosaurs BBC documentary (which I recently rewatched). Fascinating how much and how little we know about the lost world of the dinosaurs.
August 7, 2020
The best adult WWD book ( www.amazon.com/review/R1NXSYJDL0LBHM/... ): 4/5
Short version: If you want the best adult WWD book, get Martill/Naish's "Walking with Dinosaurs: The Evidence" (henceforth Evidence). I recommend reading Evidence in conjunction with other, more recent books (E.g. Holtz's "Dinosaurs").
Long version: Read on.
As far as I know, there are 3 adult WWD books: The 1st one is Haines's "Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History", a decent natural history of dinos with a chronological format; The 2nd one is Benton's "Walking With Dinosaurs: Fascinating Facts", a bad natural history of dinos with a Q&A format; The 3rd & last one is Evidence. In this review, I list the 2 main reasons why I think Evidence is the best one.
1) Evidence does the same things as the other adult WWD books, but better:
-Like the 1st one, Evidence has a chronological format with each chapter focusing on a different Mesozoic site (1 Late Triassic, 2 Late Jurassic, 2 Early Cretaceous, & 1 Late Cretaceous). Unlike the 1st one, each chapter shows how we know what we know.
-Like the 2nd one, Evidence has a Q&A format with each chapter divided into sections & each section having a sub-title (which is often a question). Unlike the 2nd one, the questions are precise, the answers are concise, & the Q&As are good.
2) Evidence does things that the other adult WWD books don't:
-On the 1 hand, the 1st one "is transcribed natural history documentary - I don't know if it's actually the script from the TV programmes, but it's very similar in flavour if not detail. This means that it shares the programmes' fatal weakness that you can't tell what's fact, what's pure speculation and what's in between" ( www.miketaylor.org.uk/dino/books/#wwd ). On the other hand, Evidence "admirably [fills] this gap" ( http://paleoaerie.org/recommended/ ).
-On the 1 hand, the 2nd one has almost nothing to do with WWD: There's a bit about the making of WWD in Chapter 2 & a series of color plates; That's about it. On the other hand, Evidence has everything to do with WWD ("Bringing these animals back to life for [WWD] relied on two primary sources of information[...]In this book we explore this information to show the scientific methodology behind the scenes of [WWD]").
At this point, you may be wondering why only 4/5 stars? For 1, "some of the animals, such as the Tyrannosaurus, were highly inaccurate" (See DK's "Ask Me Everything"). For another, there are several weird bits throughout WWD that pass without comment (E.g. The Diplodocus ovipositor). 2 more things of note: 1) Holtz's "Dinosaurs" gives the best idea of what we've learned since WWD (E.g. Compare the Martill/Naish quote to the Holtz quote); 2) Haines/Chambers's "The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life" does not (I.e. It makes the same mistakes as WWD, plus all new ones).
Quoting Martill/Naish: "While it is by no means impossible that Deinonychus and other dromaeosaurs did cooperate and hunt like this, other possibilities exist. Perhaps the dromaeosaurs exhibited mobbing behaviour - that is, they they did not live together permanently (like truly social animals, such as wolves and lions) but simply cooperated when prey was available. Some predatory lizards, crocodiles and birds still do this today. True pack behaviour for Deinonychus seems unlikely if it means that they routinely attacked an animal that usually ended up killing several of the pack members!"
Quoting Holtz: "If a pack of wolves or a pride of lions loses a couple of members during an attack, the group may become too weak to hunt effectively. But dinosaurs were not mammals. Because each adult female could lay a dozen or more eggs every year, they could replenish their numbers more easily than mammals. So a raptor pack could lose more hunters every year than a lion pride and still be successful."
Short version: If you want the best adult WWD book, get Martill/Naish's "Walking with Dinosaurs: The Evidence" (henceforth Evidence). I recommend reading Evidence in conjunction with other, more recent books (E.g. Holtz's "Dinosaurs").
Long version: Read on.
As far as I know, there are 3 adult WWD books: The 1st one is Haines's "Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History", a decent natural history of dinos with a chronological format; The 2nd one is Benton's "Walking With Dinosaurs: Fascinating Facts", a bad natural history of dinos with a Q&A format; The 3rd & last one is Evidence. In this review, I list the 2 main reasons why I think Evidence is the best one.
1) Evidence does the same things as the other adult WWD books, but better:
-Like the 1st one, Evidence has a chronological format with each chapter focusing on a different Mesozoic site (1 Late Triassic, 2 Late Jurassic, 2 Early Cretaceous, & 1 Late Cretaceous). Unlike the 1st one, each chapter shows how we know what we know.
-Like the 2nd one, Evidence has a Q&A format with each chapter divided into sections & each section having a sub-title (which is often a question). Unlike the 2nd one, the questions are precise, the answers are concise, & the Q&As are good.
2) Evidence does things that the other adult WWD books don't:
-On the 1 hand, the 1st one "is transcribed natural history documentary - I don't know if it's actually the script from the TV programmes, but it's very similar in flavour if not detail. This means that it shares the programmes' fatal weakness that you can't tell what's fact, what's pure speculation and what's in between" ( www.miketaylor.org.uk/dino/books/#wwd ). On the other hand, Evidence "admirably [fills] this gap" ( http://paleoaerie.org/recommended/ ).
-On the 1 hand, the 2nd one has almost nothing to do with WWD: There's a bit about the making of WWD in Chapter 2 & a series of color plates; That's about it. On the other hand, Evidence has everything to do with WWD ("Bringing these animals back to life for [WWD] relied on two primary sources of information[...]In this book we explore this information to show the scientific methodology behind the scenes of [WWD]").
At this point, you may be wondering why only 4/5 stars? For 1, "some of the animals, such as the Tyrannosaurus, were highly inaccurate" (See DK's "Ask Me Everything"). For another, there are several weird bits throughout WWD that pass without comment (E.g. The Diplodocus ovipositor). 2 more things of note: 1) Holtz's "Dinosaurs" gives the best idea of what we've learned since WWD (E.g. Compare the Martill/Naish quote to the Holtz quote); 2) Haines/Chambers's "The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life" does not (I.e. It makes the same mistakes as WWD, plus all new ones).
Quoting Martill/Naish: "While it is by no means impossible that Deinonychus and other dromaeosaurs did cooperate and hunt like this, other possibilities exist. Perhaps the dromaeosaurs exhibited mobbing behaviour - that is, they they did not live together permanently (like truly social animals, such as wolves and lions) but simply cooperated when prey was available. Some predatory lizards, crocodiles and birds still do this today. True pack behaviour for Deinonychus seems unlikely if it means that they routinely attacked an animal that usually ended up killing several of the pack members!"
Quoting Holtz: "If a pack of wolves or a pride of lions loses a couple of members during an attack, the group may become too weak to hunt effectively. But dinosaurs were not mammals. Because each adult female could lay a dozen or more eggs every year, they could replenish their numbers more easily than mammals. So a raptor pack could lose more hunters every year than a lion pride and still be successful."
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews