The best illustrated and most comprehensive book ever published on the
largest land animals the world has ever known.
From The Land Before Time to Jurassic Park, images of fantastically
large, long-necked, plant-eating dinosaurs have captured our
imaginations. These are the sauropods: centerpieces of museums and
gentle giants of the distant past. Imagine what it must have been like
to crest a hill and see in the valley below not just one sauropod, but
an entire herd, feeding its way across the landscape.
The most massive land animals ever to have lived, sauropods roamed
widely across the continents through most of the "Age of Dinosaurs" from
about 220 to 65 million years ago. They reached incredible sizes, giving
rise to the question: Why were they so big? Early guesses suggested that
they gained protection from predators by virtue of their size, which
also allowed them to reach the tops of trees in order to eat leaves and
conifer needles. More recent hypotheses hold that they needed a long and
complicated digestive tract due to their consumption of low-nutrient
food sources: size was an offshoot of that need. Whatever the
explanation, there is little doubt that natural selection produced
something extraordinary when the Sauropoda diversified into a wide
variety of species.
This book combines majestic artwork and the best of paleontological
research to resurrect the lives of sauropods. The Sauropod Dinosaurs
shows how these amazing creatures raised and defended their young,
traveled in groups, and interacted with the rich diversity of Mesozoic
plants and animals. Beautiful enough to sit on the coffee table, the
book also serves as the best reference available on these bygone giants.
Anyone with a passion for dinosaurs or prehistoric life will cherish
this once-in-a-generation masterpiece.
The book includes the following features:
Over 200 full-color illustrations
More than 100 color photographs from museums, field sites, and
collections around the world
Thoughtfully placed drawings and charts
Clearly written text reviewed by major sauropod researchers
Descriptions of the latest sauropod concepts and discoveries
A field guide to major groups of sauropods
Detailed skeletal reconstructions and anatomical restorations
A comprehensive glossary
