Copyright Date:
2018
Edition Date:
2018
Release Date:
03/10/18
ISBN:
1-550-17821-0
ISBN 13:
978-1-550-17821-0
Dewey:
567
Language:
English
Reviews:
School Library Journal
(Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)
Gr 4 Up-Paleontologist Persons teams up with illustrator and art blogger Csotonyi to create a colorful and fascinating read. With a blend of photos of real fossils and illustrations of the imagined reality of these massive creatures, the book examines the geographic features of Alberta roughly 100 to 60 million years ago; the process of fossilization; and how scientists preserve, identify, and display fossils. They also go into brief detail about a few specific dinosaurs. Persons describes several groups including ornithopods, ceratopsians, and pachycephalosaurs. The book's strength lies in the diversity of the information contained within the slim text. From how fossils are found and preserved to what ended the lives of dinosaurs, the author covers a great deal of fascinating informationincluding the fact that the preserved eggs of the largest dinosaurs were not much larger than a basketball. Additionally, careful study of fossils under a microscope reveals patterns of growth not unlike the rings of a tree. In wetter seasons, with access to more food, dinosaurs grew more quickly than in dry, cool seasons. VERDICT Students with an interest in dinosaurs, as well as those who know little but would like to find out more, will enjoy this glossy, informative read. Sarah Knutson, American Canyon Middle School, CA
Home to the 2,500-km Fossil Trail, the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum, the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, and Dinosaur Provincial Park--a UNESCO World Heritage site--the Alberta Badlands have unearthed more species of dinosaurs than anywhere else in the world and hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the fossil beds annually. Despite being star attractions in museums around the world, the dinosaurs of Alberta have never before been the subject of a book that explores their unique interrelationships and scientific importance, while still being accessible to young readers. In Dinosaurs of the Alberta Badlands , paleontologist Dr. Persons travels back in time 76 million years to the Late Cretaceous period, when pterosaurs soared through the skies, prehistoric sea monsters as long as school buses swam in Alberta's shallow sea, and ankylosaurs and ceratopsians roamed the swamps and flood plains that would eventually become the badlands of today. Meet the terrifying Albertosaurus , a relative of Tyrannosaurus , and the plant-eating, duck-billed Edmontosaurus . Bet on the winner of a race between a tyrannosaur and a hadrosaur--who's quick and deadly, who's slow and steady? Explore some of Alberta's most notable dig sites, including the Danek Bonebed, and learn how fossils form and what paleontologists do when they find them. And discover dinosaurs' avian legacy and Alberta's official provincial "dinosaur"--the great horned owl. Featuring paleoart by Julius Csotonyi, over seventy-five photos and illustrations, and profiles of leading paleontologists, Dinosaurs of the Alberta Badlands showcases Alberta's prehistoric beasts, not as participants in a parade of isolated monsters, but as animals adapted to be part of a long-lost ecosystem.