Dinosaurs history

Dinosaurs were vertebrate animals that appeard first approximately 230 million years ago. It is believed that 65 million years ago, dinosaurs suffered a catastrophic extinction. First dinosaurs was recognized in the 19th century, and since then many fossilized dinosaur skeletons have been displayed at museums around the world.

Dinosaur research

Dinosaur research has become very active in the 1970s. This was triggered, mostly by John Ostrom's discovery of Deinonychus, an active predator that may have been warm-blooded, in contrast to the extinct dinosaurs which were cold-blooded. Major new dinosaur discoveries have been made by paleontologists working in previously unexploited regions, including India, Madagascar, Antarctica, and in China where the well-preserved feathered dinosaurs in China have strengthen the link between dinosaurs and their descendants, modern birds.

Encyclopedia of dinosaurs

Encyclopedia of dinosaurs is written by well-known scientists and organized alphabetically by subject, the signed articles cover kinds of dinosaurs, biology, geology, research, and museums where dinosaurs are on display, including a worldwide list of museums and sites. There is some overlap with The Dinosauria in dinosaur descriptions, but this encyclopedia offers authoritative articles on many topics not covered in that work, such as "color," "intelligence," and "ornamentation." While the language may sometimes be too technical for the general reader, Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs provides a nice link between popular and scientific dinosaur studies. The author of The Complete Dinosaur Dictionary (Carol Pub., 1995), which was aimed at young adults, Glut now offers a far more detailed and technical work oriented toward dinosaur material in museum collections. Following 74 pages of background information, the encyclopedia is devoted to an alphabetical list of dinosaur genera. Each entry tells the date of discovery, name derivation, occurrence, age, and diagnosis; gives a list of key print references; and refers to important museum specimens that have furthered the study of dinosaur paleontology.

Big book of dinosaurs

The big book of dinosaurs by DK Publishing is big in size and has the elaborate two-page spreads, the color models, and even the oversized type. Children can experience the amazing powers of these prehistoric beasts like the jagged teeth of the ferocious meat eaters, the slashing claws of the Deinonychus, and the long-necked Barosaurus that could reach five-story-high treetops and may have had eight hearts. Yet, like the dinosaurs themselves, there is nothing threatening or intimidating about this highly informative book. The text is brief and only conveying facts that children find interesting. (There's even an index for quick searches of favorite dinos.) The lifelike illustrations give young readers a solid sense of what dinosaur fossils and skeletal systems look like as well as clear mental pictures of how these creatures appeared in "real-life" millions of years ago.