*Free copy provided by NetGalley for an honest review.
Summary:
John Pickrell takes us all over the world and through time to learn more about the strangest dinosaurs and the, sometimes even stranger, paleontologists who found them.
Review:
Like most people, I fell in love with dinosaurs thanks to Jurassic Park. While my original plans to become a paleontologist didn't pan out, I've still held on to my love of dinosaurs. Even when science told us that they were actually feathery creatures, instead of the scaly lizards we originally thought. I was prepared for this book to be a very technical read and was still excited to read it. The fact that it ended up being an incredible series of adventure stories was a wonderful surprise.
Pickrell takes us to some of the biggest dig sites on each continent. I had no idea that there was such a big "market" for paleontologists in Mongolia, Antarctica and Madagascar. He shows us that not all fossils are found in desert conditions and talks about the trials and tribulations of digging out said fossils when the weather and geography are never on your side.He talks about contemporary paleontologists trying to find dig sites found a century or two ago and gives mini-biographies on some of the older paleontologists. It really is a grand adventure.
This book was so much fun to read and learn from! I'd love to have more pictures, but I also enjoyed finding the dinosaurs on Google Images, especially the one dubbed "Hellboy". It's so fascinating to read about all the different "decorations" that dinosaurs evolved for various reasons. It was even more fun to read about so many of my previous thoughts about dinosaurs be proven wrong. The notion that dinosaurs could only live in tropical climates? Not true. The evidence has been found. Seeing what happens to dinosaur populations that evolved on islands and seeing the work that goes into putting the pieces together, literally and figuratively, makes for an incredible read for any dinosaur lover.
If you have any interest at all in dinosaurs or want to get someone interested in them, I highly recommend Weird Dinosaurs. 4.5 Hoots!
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