Dinosaur Encyclopedia: From Dinosaurs to the Dawn of Man

by David Lambert, Darren Naish, Elizabeth Wyse

A comprehensive new reference book that gives fascinating insight into the world of dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts. Researched and compiled by a team of experts in dinosaurs and other prehistoric life, DK's Dinosaur Encyclopedia answers thousands of intriguing questions about the dangerous world of dinosaurs. It presents an amazing variety of creatures, including early flying reptiles, the first fist, and the ape-like animals that set the scene for the evolution of the first humans. See the ferocious T-rex battle a gentle therizinosaur, or witness a giant, ground-dwelling bird chasing an early horse -- frighteningly realistic models and exceptional photography transport you straight into this ancient and terrifying world. Magnificent full-page reconstructions of prehistoric environments show these fascinating creatures in their natural habitats, from the Silurian seas to the grasslands of Pliocene America. This superb encyclopedia is divided into sections according to cladistics, making it easy to understand how different groups of animals evolved from common ancestors. A useful introduction provides an overview to understand fossils and evolution, followed by extensive sections covering different groups of prehistoric animals. Easy-to-use timeline bars on each page allow quick identification of the time period featured. At-a-glance scale indicators and fact boxes combine to provide the essentials on the prehistoric world. In addition, there is a comprehensive reference section providing a survey of the geological timescale, a biography section covering leading paleontologists, and an accessible glossary and index, making this a truly remarkable and compelling guide to all things prehistoric.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Nature, Dinosaurs

376 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2001

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Please see: David Lambert


David Lambert is an editor with the prize-winning Diagram Group, which specializes in the creation of illustrated reference books of all kinds. For more than 50 years he has written about everything from dinosaurs and ancient civilizations to dogs and outer space. His name might not always be on the cover, but it is usually inside the book.

Reviews

[Alessandro Duran]

Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs follows the creation,evolution of life on Earth, how people excavate remains, and who were the famous anthropologists, paleontologists, paleobotanists, and anatomists. First it explained the creation of life, how each species started to branch off into separate categories of animals, how life developed, and why it is that species in that group. As you read towards the end, it will start to explain how to excavate fossils, and the history of famous anthropologist,anatomist etc..
I fancy this book, because the book gives dramatic, and favorable information of an extinct animal, and how you can be a excavator of fossils as well.

[Patrick McGorman]

Even since I was young, I loved dinosaurs and all other prehistoric animals. This book pretty much sums up the entire history of planet earth, from the Cambrian period to the Quaternary period. Because of this book, I can list all the periods off the top of my head.
1. Cambrian
2. Ordovician
3. Silurian
4. Devonian
5. Carboniferous
6. Permian
7. Triassic
8. Jurassic
9. Cretaceous
10. Tertiary
11. Quaternary

This book has a lot of fossil lover favorites such as Dunkleosteus, Dimetrodon and Tyrannosaurus Rex (of course). But also a lot of more obscure ones like Uintatherium and Pteraspis. What am I talking about, check this book out to see for yourself.

[Jordan]

This week the kids in my groups requested some dinosaur books so I brought this in. They liked it because it had a lot of pictures and a lot of dinosaur variety. The book was good for learning about dinosaurs but not very good for reading aloud. I found this book at the public library, I went through all the boxes of children's books and through all the shelves to find a reading level and context variety.

[Chris Ellis]

Well, it took a while but I finally got through it. This is a DK book and in my view they are always well put together, crammed full of facts, interesting tidbits, and gorgeous photos.

My only problem is with the title. This book is not exclusive to dinosaurs, but includes mammals (yes that includes humans), plant life (sparingly) and much more.

Worth the time, even if taken in small doses.