Where on Earth? Dinosaurs and other prehistoric life / Где на Земле? Динозавры и другая доисторическая жизнь

My adventures as a paleontologist have taken me to many exciting places at home, in the UK, and abroad, and led to the discovery of new species. Working with teams of colleagues, I named the new dinosaurs Eotyrannus, Xenoposeidon, and Mirischia, and the pterosaurs Vectidraco and Eurazhdarcho. One of the things that interests me most about dinosaurs, giant marine reptiles, and other ancient animals is that every one of them has a unique history, just as animals do today. In this book, you’ll meet a huge variety of creatures that lived on our planet in the prehistoric past, mostly during the “age of the dinosaurs,” around 235–66 million years ago. The stories about them here focus on where animals once lived and what this can tell us about them.
Wild animals today live in specific areas, known as “ranges,” which provide them with what they need to survive. Imagine a forestdwelling, fruit-eating animal such as an orangutan. It cannot live anywhere but in a forest, and that must be a forest with the right kind of fruit trees.

Some animals still live in the lands of their ancestors, while others have broadened their range, driven by factors such as climate and the slow shift of continents. In some cases, animals can discover new habitats by swimming or flying.