More than a hundred years ago, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a novel
called The Lost World with the exciting premise that dinosaurs and
other prehistoric beasts still ruled in South America. Little did Conan
Doyle know, there were terrifying monsters in South America--they just
happened to be extinct. In fact, South America has an incredible history
as a land where many strange creatures evolved and died out. In his book
Giants of the Lost World: Dinosaurs and Other Extinct Monsters of South
America, Donald R. Prothero uncovers the real science and history
behind this fascinating story. The largest animal ever discovered was
the huge sauropod dinosaur Argentinosaurus, which was about 130 feet
long and weighed up to 100 tons. The carnivorous predator
Giganotosaurus weighed in at more than 8 tons and measured more than
47 feet long, dwarfing the T. rex in comparison. Gigantic anacondas
broke reptile records; possums evolved into huge saber-toothed
predators; and ground sloths grew larger than elephants in this strange,
unknown land. Prothero presents the scientific details about each of
these prehistoric beasts, provides a picture of the ancient landscapes
they once roamed, and includes the stories of the individuals who first
discovered their fossils for a captivating account of a lost world that
is stranger than fiction.
