RE: Cheap Dino Book(s)

["Allan Edels" <edels@email.msn.com>]

George, etc:

        I don't seem to have the same edition of the book as you.  I do NOT 
have a
color section, most of the photos are of the University of Michigan Exhibit
Museum of Natural History, with several others attributed to "The Corbis
Corporation" [several of these are of AMNH, but not all].  To be honest, I
only picked the book up last week, and I have not reviewed it extremely
carefully.  It did seem to cover a lot the good questions, though.

However, to be fair.  Just checking on some of their questions (and answers
[shown in quotes]) in the middle of the book -

1. Did dinosaurs travel in herds?
"Yes, dinosaurs did apparently live and travel on herds ..."
2. Did dinosaurs migrate?
"Yes, certain dinosaurs apparently migrated, ..."
3. Did dinosaurs hunt in packs?
"Yes, paleontologists speculate that certain carnivorous dinosaurs exhibited
a social behavior called pack hunting.  The large theropods, like
_Tyrannosaurus_ and _Giganotosaurus_, show some evidence of hunting in
packs, similar to modern-day lions."

Now - each of these statements have been discussed (often at length) on the
list, but while I believe that all of them are LIKELY true - the book
shouldn't STATE that they ARE true.  The general public takes statements
like these as absolute fact.

        Allan Edels



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
Dinogeorge@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, March 21, 2000 3:46 AM
To: edels@email.msn.com; dinosaur@usc.edu
Subject: Re: Cheap Dino Book(s)


In a message dated 3/21/00 1:36:28 AM EST, edels@email.msn.com writes:

<< About a week ago, someone was asking about inexpensive Dino books. I came
 across this bargain at Borders.  "The Handy Dinosaur Answer Book" by Thomas
 E. Svarney & Patricia Barnes-Swarney. [copyright 1999 - Visible Ink Press].
 List price: $19.99.  Borders price: $4.99, 50% off sale => $2.49.

    The book is a nice overview of dinosaurs, and some other prehistoric
life
 as well.  It doesn't seem to talk-down to the reader, and covers most
 questions fairly well. >>

It's a gold mine of misinformation. For $2.49 it's good for a few laffs. For
example, the first color plate in the special color section in the middle of
the book informs us that the AMNH saurischian skeletons are located in the
Museum of Modern Art. Scarcely a page goes by without a similar howler. And
the sad fact is that this >could< have been a marvelous, useful little book.