Book recommendations

[amargasaurus cazaui]

I think if you try to suggest books for others reading appetites when it comes to dinosaurs, that leaves alot of open ground. From paleontology, to the various periods, to the different zones where the fauna lived, there is a diverse selection in Literature to choose from. My personnal favorite when it comes to dinosaur books is "Hunting Dinosaurs " by Louis Psihoyos. (link to Amazon) The book takes you on a world wide journey and tour through nearly every corner of the pale scene at the time, and speaks with many of the prominent paleontologists who have helped to develop current thinking and understanding. It is useless as a species reference or dinosaur guide and deals more directly with the Paleo aspects of modern day dinosaur research. Crammed full of powerful pictures and thought provoking study. My second choice, would be "The Sauropods: Evoloution and Paleobiology" (link to Amazon) a book that gives in depth looks at many aspects of sauropod research and current scientific understanding regarding these barely understood animals.

[DinoToyForum]

Well, it's not a dinosaur book, but it's a paleo artist biography, so I'll recommend it. It's Charles R. knight's  autobiography. It's really good, not a lot of images, but it illustrates the life of an amazing artist. Two thumbs up.

This one?: The Artist Who Saw Through Time

[DinoToyForum]

I'm looking for a book with good illustrations and info on marine reptiles



Is this one any good? If it's not, what do you guys recommend?

I don't know that one, sorry. There are not many books dedicated to marine reptiles and none of them hit the ball out of the park in my opinion. [give me a few decades and I'll see what I can do ] Sea Dragons by Richard Ellis (Link to Amazon) is probably the best out there right now, but sometimes it comes off a little dry. Ironic really, for a volume about soggy reptiles.

Ancient Marine Reptiles edited by Jack M. Callaway and Elizabeth L. Nicholls (Link to Amazon), has an enticing cover, but it is actually a collection of technical papers and therefore not suitable for a popular audience.

You might also want to look at Everhart's Sea Monsters -Prehistoric Creatures of the Deep (Link to Amazon), and Oceans of Kansas: A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea (Link to Amazon) which both have some chapters dedicated to marine reptiles. You can read my reviews of these books here: Review of Sea Monsters for Pal-electronica andReview of Oceans of Kansas for the Palaeontological Association Newsletter

The field of marine reptile research is so fast-moving, and in such flux, that any book on the topic is almost immediately out of date!

[Libraraptor]

I definitely recommend "The Last Dinosaur Book : The Life and Times of a Cultural Icon" by W. J. Mitchell.
It´s thought - provoking and also can gives an honest insight into our collectors´ minds.

[DinoToyForum]

The Complete Dinosaur, Second Edition, is now available. Looks good. Dave Hone provides a brief review: http://archosaurmusings.wordpress.com/2012/08/06/the-complete-dinosaur-2nd-edition-a-brief-review/

[DinoToyForum]

Also new, here's Dinosaur Art: The World's Greatest Paleoart!

[tyrantqueen]

Also new, here's Dinosaur Art: The World's Greatest Paleoart!

That one's been on pre-order for aaaaages...I remember seeing it a couple of years ago.

[DinoToyForum]

Also new, here's Dinosaur Art: The World's Greatest Paleoart!

That one's been on pre-order for aaaaages...I remember seeing it a couple of years ago.

Oh, I thought it was atually available to order now, but it isn't.

[DinoToyForum]

Anyone know this book? Rise and Fall of the Dinosaur by Joseph Wallace (1987, Hardcover)

[Takama]

Ok   I am currently looking for Prehistoric Mammal Books now, for a CollectA Megacerops Review.

I was looking at this.



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1403476616/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&smid=A1KIF2Y9A1PQYE

Any yay or nay sayers?

[tyrantqueen]

I am seriously considering buying The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time by David M. Unwin but I don't know if I should get it or not. It's out of print so the prices are not cheap. It has gotten a lot of good reviews but I am still unsure whether I would like it or not. I like my prehistoric books to have lots of illustrations, I do not like walls of text (even though I am a very fast reader...)

My main question is...how does it compare to The Illustrated Encylopaedia of Pterosaurs by Peter Wellnhofer? I consider that book to be the best one ever written on the subject

[Gwangi]

I have Unwin's book and I think you'll like it. It is lavishly illustrated with a lot of good quality photos and artwork. It is also the most up to date book on pterosaurs that currently exists. I can post some pictures of the inside of the book later today if you like.

EDIT: Here is a review of the book from pterosaur.net
http://pterosaur-net.blogspot.com/2010/10/pterosaur-books-to-know-and-love-part-2.html

[wings]

I am seriously considering buying The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time by David M. Unwin but I don't know if I should get it or not. It's out of print so the prices are not cheap. It has gotten a lot of good reviews but I am still unsure whether I would like it or not. I like my prehistoric books to have lots of illustrations, I do not like walls of text (even though I am a very fast reader...)

My main question is...how does it compare to The Illustrated Encylopaedia of Pterosaurs by Peter Wellnhofer? I consider that book to be the best one ever written on the subject

If you are interested in pterosaurs, and wants to get a book with lots of illustration perhaps you might like to pre-order this one ( http://www.markwitton.com/#/pup-pterosaurs/4552905946 ) too. On this link there is a sample chapter and also some of the illustrations from the book as well.

[tyrantqueen]

Thanks guys. Some pics would be nice Gwangi.

Btw Wings, you wouldn't happen to be Mark Witton himself would you? XD Or a fan of his?

[wings]

Btw Wings, you wouldn't happen to be Mark Witton himself would you? XD Or a fan of his?

Unfortunately, I'm not Mark himself...  I do have Unwin's book though and since you were saying that it's out of print or you might need to spend quite a bit to get one, so I thought maybe Witton's book is an alternative for you. Not only it covers pretty much every topics on Unwin's (maybe more but I didn't try to go through the whole content list) and it should also be more updated (I hope...). I don't have any preference at all about them, these two books should be quite similar in content wise (from what has been shown on Witton's site so far) so I think it all comes down to who's artwork would you prefer, in Unwin's book most of the illustrations are done by Todd Marshall while in Witton's, they are all done by the author.

[Gwangi]

Here are some pictures of the book. They aren't great but you get an idea. Most pages have high quality photographs of fossils or artwork. There are a lot of nice color pieces by Todd Marshal. There are also a lot of sketches and diagrams illustrating everything from pterosaur embryos to brain structure, flight mechanics to posture and different kind of head crests. Really you must get the book.

[deanm]

I agree with Gwangi - Unwin's book is a must buy.   I am also looking forward to Witton's book also. Can't have enough pterosaur books!

[Himmapaan]

Egads, I must have the Unwin book too, now.

[DinoToyForum]

'Dinosaur Art' is now available - for real this time. And at very reasonable price 

Here on Amazon.com

and

Here on Amazon.co.uk

[Gwangi]

I'm expecting mine in the mail any day now!