Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved

Naish, a paleozoologist, and Barrett, a paleontologist, have given us an altogether splendid treatment of what, as of just a couple of years ago (this business changes fast, especially regarding feathers) we know about dinosaurs. This isn’t a competitor to Steve Brusatte’s 2018 The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, with which it will often be compared: rather, these books are complementary.Where Brusatte presented a highly readable story, beginning to end, Naish and Barrett dig (literally) into the meat and bones of dinosaur evolution. Barrett’s book chronicles what happened, mixed with discovery stories and asides on the science: Naish and Barrett tell why and how it happened. Dinosaurs starts with an overview chapter, then goes into the complexities of the family trees, then chapters on anatomy and on biology, ecology, and behavior. They provide a fascinating chapter on the origin of birds and how they survived and thrived up to the present day, showing what we know of Mesozoic-era birds and what features survived into the birds of today. Birds also offer clues we can trace back to look at dinosaurs: those sluggish reptiles we saw in our childhood books can in part be blamed on an over-reliance on modern reptiles as the models.The two scientist/authors make clear how countless dinosaur features, from feathers to femurs, evolved and worked.The book is sumptuously illustrated, drawing heavily for photos on the collection of the Natural History Museum in London but including vivid artistic depictions. Clear line drawings explain the anatomical features and how researchers have figured them out (or, in some cases, why they are still puzzling.) Another valuable bit is the authors' ability to explain how we know so much from fossils, what kind of clues (like tooth wear demonstrating feeding habits) we can get through traditional and modern exam techniques.American readers need not fear the British authors have slighted our favorite dinos: Triceratops and T. rex and the other North American denizens of the Mesozoic, especially the Cretaceous, get full treatment here. The authors close with a thorough examination of the extinction event and the aftermath.The authors get just a little too dry in spots for this nonscientist dino aficionado, and the structure of the book lends itself to too many “we will look in detail at this later” statements. These are quibbles, though. If you hand this book and Brusatte’s to your favorite dino-lover, you’re not going to see that person again for a week.

As you may remember, Gardom/Milner's "The Natural History Museum Book of Dinosaurs" WAS my favorite serious dino book ( amazon.com/review/R2URWS93D4PO4C/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8 ). However, Naish/Barrett's "Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved" (henceforth DH) is my NEW favorite. Thus, DH is now my go-to natural history of dinos. There are 2 main reasons for why that is: 1) DH is very comprehensive; This is especially apparent in Chapters 5-6 (which not only cover "the origin of birds" like Chapter 10 of Gardom/Milner's book, but also birds "beyond the Cretaceous"); 2) DH is very well-illustrated; In addition to Sibbick (who illustrated Gardom/Milner's book), DH is illustrated by Bonadonna, Conway, Csotonyi, Knüppe, Nicholls, Willoughby, & Witton. My only nit-picks are the cover art (which, while not the worst, neither reflects the interior art nor compares to the cover art of Gardom/Milner's book) & the lack of emphasis on the museum website (although the museum logo should be enough to show readers where to go for more info). Otherwise, these 2 books are very similar (E.g. Compare the quotes at the end of this review). 1 more thing of note: Contra what Publishers Weekly says, the "chapter on dinosaur cladistics" is 1 of the highlights of DH; Each section reads like a mini-story of how that sub-group evolved."For 160 million years, dinosaurs were the most successful and diverse creatures to dominate the Earth. This book is based on the world-famous fossil collections and permanent “Dinosaurs” exhibition at London’s Natural History Museum. Written by two experts from one of the world’s leading Paleontology departments, this book features hundreds of color photos and illustrations that reveal the astonishing variety of life that proliferated in the Mesozoic Era—the Age of Dinosaurs. Tim Gardom has researched several major exhibitions, including The Natural History Museum’s acclaimed “Dinosaurs.” Angela Milner is Head of Fossil Vertebrates at The Natural History Museum" ( amazon.com/Natural-History-Museum-Book-Dinosaurs/dp/184442183X )."From the Victorian golden age of dinosaur discovery to the cutting edge of twenty-first century fossil forensics 'Dinosaurs' unravels the mysteries of the most spectacular group of animals our planet has ever seen. Despite facing drastic climatic conditions including violent volcanic activity, searing temperatures and rising and plunging sea levels, the dinosaurs formed an evolutionary dynasty that ruled the Earth for more than 150 million years. Darren Naish and Paul Barrett reveal the latest scientific findings about dinosaur anatomy, behaviour, and evolution. They also demonstrate how dinosaurs survived the great extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period and continued to evolve and thrive alongside us, existing today as an incredibly diverse array of birds that are the direct descendants of theropods. 'Dinosaurs' is lavishly illustrated with specimens from the Natural History Museum's own collections, along with explanatory diagrams and charts and full-colour artistic reconstructions of dinosaur behaviour" ( amazon.co.uk/Dinosaurs-They-Lived-Evolved-2016/dp/0565093118 )

I liked it!

I bought this to supplement a MOOC I've been taking from Coursera. It is well worthwhile for the purpose and interesting on it's own. IF you're into Dinosaurs you can't go wrong with this, up to date on latest discoveries and totally readable.

This is a great book. It has many up-to-date facts about dinosaurs presented in a very readable way. It doesn't gloss over the science but covers it in a completely understandable and well-organized way. There are many excellent illustrations as well. I have one other book that is over 1100 pages, yet this much shorter book is far more useful.

this presents the most information in the fewest pages with clear, informal explanations and plenty of insightful illustrations. i really enjoyed this book and learned an enormous amount simply by browsing. idea for a young adult with a self learning impulse and a fascination with evolution, biology, or just with one of the most spectacularly successful vertebrate creations ever to appear on our planet.

Enjoyable, techenical, readable, professionally laid out.Possibly my best Dinosaur book. Exceptional in evey way.A must for any Dinosaur enthusiast.This is the book you wish theNatural History Museum had in stock, when you visited.

This book has been such a pleasant read and reference for some of the most up to date info on dinosaur physiology and behaviour with plenty of beautiful illustrations within, recommended to any fan of the topic.

Hervorragend, sympathisch und interessant geschrieben. Das Dinobuch mit den aktuellsten Forschungsstand, das mir bekannt ist. Sehr zu empfehlen für alle, die sich für Dinosaurier interessieren.

Che dire, il libro fa quello che deve, ossia spiegare i donasuri. Scritto in un inglese abbastanza semplice da approcciare, ricco di illustrazioni. Consigliato.

I bought this book for my husband as a gift and he is enjoying it very much. More than meets his expectations -- well written, informative, and engaging. Beautifully illustrated with photos of specimens from the Natural History Museum in London, England. My husband, an amateur enthusiast for geology and palaeontology, had the delight to meet one of the authors, Darren Naish, on a 2016 geological tour in the UK, making the book a double pleasure to read.

Authors Darren Naish and Paul Barrett deserve the highest praise for producing such a well researched, comprehensive, very readable, helpfully illustrated and all round accessible work as this certainly is. The well known saying, 'good wine needs no bush', is very appropriate here. Some works, which have a whole string of famous people recommending them, fall flat on their face when compared with this wonderful book, which has no such recommendations. This work takes the reader step by step through the world of dinosaurs, which are still with us today in the form of birds.The book is divided into six sections.1: History, origins and the dinosaurs' world.2: The Dinosaur Family Tree.3: Anatomy.4: Biology, Ecology and Behaviour.5: The Origin of Birds.5: The Great Extinction and Beyond.There's glossary, a further information section, an index and credits.The authors entirely avoid the disrupting error of including irrelevant personal details about themselves, an annoyance that imposes an unnecessary distraction on the reader. Another helpful thing about this work is that it's the best companion ever to other leading works about dinosaurs. It brings their information together along with the very latest discoveries. You can go to another relevant work and then relate it to the information in this book plus accessing the best recommended websites and so on. For those of us who still prefer owning real books this one is of immense value. In it the reader will get to know dinosaurs in the most fascinating, wonderful way possible.

Very good book- a more robust cover would have been better