Predatory Dinosaurs of the World: A Complete Illustrated Guide

by Gregory S. Paul

Book Overview

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671619462
• ISBN13: 9780671619466
• Release Date: January 1988
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 2.05 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Predatory Dinosaurs of the World

"Predatory Dinosaurs of the World: A Complete Illustrated Guide" written and drawn by Gregory S. Paul is a complete guide up and to the point of publication (1988) but it is fastly becoming outdated. But, nevertheless, it is a wonderful book with illustrations of predatory dinosaurs. Gregory Paul fleshes out dinsosaurs through his illustrations making them look life like and ready to strike when and if they choose. What I liked about this book is that it is divided into two different sections or parts. The first part discusses the life and evolution of predatory dinosaurs. Getting to know the life-styles of the big and powerful and the small and fierce. The history of predatory dinosaurs success and failures and their avian descendants. There is a discussion of the nuts and bolts of predatory dinosaur anatomy and action, along with discussions on speed, whether they were cold or warm blooded, and there is a good chapter about the beginnings of bird flight: from the ground up or the trees up. The second part of the book is the catalog of predatory dinosaurs divided by type. There is an explaination of the catalog, with skeletal muscle and life restorations, explaination of the data synopses. The predatory dinosaures are divided by primative paleodinosaurs, bird-mimicking Herrerasaurs, then the Theropods. The Theropods are divided into groups called the paleotheropods... early and late, and the birdlike avetheropods, which are further divided into the early avetheropods, the Allosaur-Tyrannosaur group and then the Protobirds: flying and nonflying. I found a wealth of good information within the pages of this book, but as stated earlier, there is no data concerning the newer finds of the 1990's... this could be done with a new edition of the book. All in all, I gave the book a solid 5 stars as it was very educational and informative and the book was compelling and emotive. "Predatory Dinosaurs of the World" is a luxurious testimonial to the public fascination with dinosaurs, enriched by imagery that eloquently illustrated with current scientific theories about dinosaur behavior, physiology, and locomotion.

A modern classic

Once, I was just a kid obsessed with Jurassic Park. That's as in touch with dinosaurs as I got. Then, on a search for information on Velociraptor, I discovered this book at my public library. And it got me hooked. PDW got me into dinosaurs for real, and ever since I have been fascinated by them, a serious field of interest for me. PDW is well-written, lively and readable, save for the occasional (and amusing) typo. The information is extremely valuable. Although some of Paul's theories on theropods, especially their classification, have since been disfavored (or were never really agreeable to begin with), an astonishing number of them have remained wickedly close to the truth. It is fascinating reading of Paul's then-outrageous theories of, say, feathered theropods, and not even ten years later watching feathered theropods pop out of the ground like weeds. The illustrations are incredible. Paul is, without a doubt, the most influential dinosaur artist today; virtually every other artist has been influenced at least somewhat by Paul's magnificent work. They depict dinosaurs at the highest level of accuracy, painstakingly researched, skeletons reconstructed, muscles laid onto the bones, and finally the flesh (and, sometimes, feathers) added to reveal the finest possible restorations of these extinct animals. Greg Paul is truly a genius. This book has been scrutinized by the conservatives, flamed, disappreciated. I think that is truly a shame, as the book is, in actuality, one of the gems of dinosaur paleontology. It is also a shame that this book is out of print. If you are fascinated by theropod dinosaurs, or dinosaurs or paleontology in general, I urge you to find a copy of this book. It may be hard, but it's worth it. Or, you can wait and hope Mr. Paul writes an update sometime in the near future. I wait for a version two with more anticipation that I can possibly relate in words. We'll see...

A book of great ideas and technical expertise!

This is a must for the dinosaur maven, the biomechanic and the professional paleontologist. Gregory Paul is one of those all too rare scientists who is a superb illustrator and artist. He brings his intimate familiarity with fossils to a disciplined imagination and careful documentation. The result is one of the best dinosaur books ever. By the way, what is the similarity among a tyrannosaur, a horse and an ostrich? You have to buy the book to find out...

A must for the serious dinosaur enthusiast

Never before have I read such a comprehensive study of dinosaur anatomy and behavior as was compiled for this book. Where most books (even Bakker's _The Dinosaur Heresies_) on serious dinosaur studies borrow from the past to complete a picture of the present theories of dinosaurs, Paul literally threw everything out the window and started from scratch to put together new theories of lines of evolution, dinosaur locomotion, and even going so far as to build a completely new system of taxonomy for the great beasts. Some of his thoughts are sadly mistaken, but the rest of this book is such a gem that it should be on all paleontologist's shelves.

A very good book, if you can find it...

Someone mentioned to me that this book was out of print. It was hard to believe, but it seems to be true. Slightly outdated now, this remains one of the best books I've ever seen on the subject. It includes everything from detailed dimensions, distributions, and timelines of the carnivores to Greg Paul's acclaimed technical drawings of the skeletons. This, incidentally, is one of the books Crichton drew from in writing Jurassic Park. The worst of it is, Paul had intended to write a series of volumes, moving from predators to sauropods, ceratopsians, stegosaurs, hadrosaurs, etc. That was ten years ago. I'm hoping that he'll eventually continue the series, creating a complete encyclopaedia of technical, yet easily read books. If you can track this one down, you'll be pleased with it