It was a time of huge “thunder lizards” roaming steamy fern jungles; of “mammal-reptiles” walking the land of Laurasia; of continental movements, mountain building, and massive volcanoes; and a time of the most horrific, earth-shattering extinctions that ever occurred on this planet. It was the middle times of what is called the Phanerozoic Eon, a geologic interval lasting almost a half billion years. It was the time of the dinosaurs…and much, much more. We call this time the Mesozoic Era. <...>

The encyclopedia of dinosaurs and other prehistoric life begins with an introductory section that provides an overview to understanding fossils, evolution, and prehistoric life. This is followed by the four main sections of the book, which cover the major groups of prehistoric animals – Fish and Invertebrates, Amphibians and Reptiles, Dinosaurs and Birds, and Mammals and their Ancestors. Each entry in these four sections covers a particular prehistoric animal or a group of such animals. An extensive reference section at the back of the book contains a fossil timeline, details of how paleontologists find and study fossils, and biographies of noted researchers. <...>

This book got its start about seven years ago when Robert Bakker-the progressive dinosaurologist I studied with for many years-suggested that I draw up illustrations of some predatory dinosaur skeletons. About the same time, I started looking into the problem of bird origins, which I believed was tied to dinosaurs. One thing led to another and after a while I realized I had enough material available to put together a book on the dinosaurian meat eaters.

The Lost World was a work of fiction by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, but it was based on the newly made discovery of actual isolated plateaus in the  Amazonian jungles of South America inhabited by unique creatures unknown to science. Not even Doyle could have imagined the extinct gigantic creatures that really did exist in the prehistoric past of South America. <...>

The science of palaeontology (the study of fossil animals) is developing at an exciting speed. New discoveries are being made so quickly, that before this book is on the bookshelves there will have been an overwhelming number of new finds and developments in the understanding of the subject. Each week there is something new to report, whether it be a skeleton that constitutes an entirely new branch of the evolutionary tree, or some indication of life gleaned through new finds of footprints or feeding traces. Microscopic analysis of fossilized dung provides ancient information about diet eaten by prehistoric creatures. Footprints tell us about the lifestyles of extinct animals.

Popular interest in dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles began during the third decade of the 19th century,and has increased continually since that time. In 1841, the name Dinosauria (‘terrible lizards’) was proposed by Richard Owen at the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, held in Plymouth; it first appeared in print the following year. During subsequent decades, both scientific and popular interest were extended to pterosaurs, mosasaurs, ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs.Mesozoic reptiles, especially dinosaurs, likewise earned their place in science fiction, films and comic strips. It is no coincidence that both my wife and I were thrilled especially by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World (1912) whilst at school. Anne even read it by the flickering light of a coal firewhilst in the sanatoriumquarantined for chickenpox! Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan, and numerous other authors wrote stories about dinosaurs during the first part of the 20th Century, whilst they appeared in many early films, notably The Lost World (1925) and King Kong (1933). <...>

The monster bears down on the fleeing jeep, the earth shaking as its feet come down with thunderous steps; it snatches up an outhouse in its jaws, grabs the nervous lawyer and swallows him down in one gulp. So we meet Tyrannosaurus rex in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park (1993). It is a truly terrifying sight: all shining, scaly skin, talons and teeth. This image of the dinosaur is so widespread we often don’t ask how we know they looked like that. In fact, we now know that they didn’t look much like that at all. <...>

Melanosomes are the tiny hollows inside hairs or feathers that contain melanin. Melanin is a pigment that gives the black, brown, grey, and ginger colours to hairs and feathers. We were the first ever – or at least the first on record – to have seen evidence of melanosomes in dinosaurs. If we had got it right, this was evidence of the original colour of their feathers. We could say that for the first time we had discovered for sure the colour of a dinosaur.

To write about our continuing exploration of the Gobi Desert—an adventure that is still unfolding—is rather odd, as if my reflection on the serendipity behind various events and discoveries had anything to do with predicting the future of our efforts. Nonetheless, enough has been experienced to justify my recollection. I also felt the sheer panic of loosing vivid feelings and images before I could flesh them out in any form beyond random notes in my field journals. As a result, I had the sheer pleasure of revisiting these experiences in a small room of an old eastern Atlantic Victorian house, about as far away from the land of camels, sand dunes, and
dinosaur graveyards as one can imagine. <...>

Non-bird dinosaurs (“dinosaurs”) are very much in the news these days: dinosaurs had feathers; dinosaurs were warm-blooded; dinosaurs were snuffed out in mere seconds; we’ve just discovered the largest dinosaur ever; we’ve just discovered the smallest dinosaur ever; here is Jurassic World, there is The Good Dinosaur. . . it’s a media blizzard. And why not? Ideas about dinosaurs have moved conceptually far beyond the twentieth century: a few weirdo reptiles that lived on this planet, but were too stupid to survive. Today dinosaurs are recognized as centerpieces of vertebrate evolution; they’re just a whole lot more interesting than they used to be!