Dinosaurs Rediscovered

March 18, 2019
In this insightful survey, Benton (When Life Nearly Died), a University of Bristol paleontology professor, looks at how dinosaurs might have lived, lauding the many advances made in paleontology since the 1970s. Findings about dinosaur intelligence, for example, indicate that though dinosaurs’ brains were “actually pretty tiny,” they could have “shown complex behaviour around mate choice.” Benton also considers diet, and the question of whether various creatures were herbivores or carnivores, as can be indicated by tooth shape, stomach contents, and even fossilized feces. Going behind the scenes, Benton takes readers through expeditions and museum laboratories. His view of how dinosaurs are depicted in films and TV should particularly appeal to general audiences; he laments that 2018’s Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom didn’t show any dinosaurs with feathers, as are now thought to have adorned some species. He also highlights how computational digital modeling aids both special effects artists (in more realistically depicting dinosaurs than in the older films that used “stop-motion photography, or... lizards sporting cardboard crests and spikes”) and scientists (in more authoritatively estimating dinosaurs’ speed, gait, and posture). This enjoyable primer will leave layreaders with a new appreciation for how far modern science has come in understanding “long-dead animals, represented now by skeletons and isolated bones.” With 120 illus. Agent: Michelle Tessler, Tessler Literary Agency.

May 1, 2019

Looking back on his 40-year career in dinosaur research, British paleontologist Benton (vertebrate paleontology, Univ. of Bristol, England; When Life Nearly Died) has seen the field evolve from a speculative discipline, often reliant on guesswork and intuition, into a highly technical and computational science. The author examines how this transformation has advanced our understanding of dinosaurs in almost every aspect--their origin and diversification, locomotion, feeding, growth, reproduction, physiology, phylogeny, and the mass extinction event that caused their demise. He further reveals how CT (computed tomography) scanning, 3-D digital imaging, engineering design software, and the scanning electron microscope have revolutionized the paleontologist's work. Benton also describes the Bristol Dinosaur Project: an educational program for getting school children involved with dinosaur science. For dinosaur movie fans, he analyzes the accuracy of dinosaur animation and feasibility of reconstructing dinosaurs from ancient DNA, à la Jurassic Park. VERDICT This engaging book by one of the field's most prominent paleontologists is as much about the evolution of dinosaur paleobiology as the evolution of dinosaurs themselves. Highly recommended for enthusiasts of these areas.--Cynthia Lee Knight, Hunterdon Cty. Historical Soc., Flemington, NJ

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