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The companion volume to the BBC/Discovery Channel series, Walking with Dinosaurs reads like a cross between a National Geographic article and the script from one of Disney's True Life Adventures films. Scenes from the daily lives of various animals illuminate the changes in flora and fauna that occurred during the Mesozoic era.

The fossil record offers some clues about dinosaur beh... More

The companion volume to the BBC/Discovery Channel series, Walking with Dinosaurs reads like a cross between a National Geographic article and the script from one of Disney's True Life Adventures films. Scenes from the daily lives of various animals illuminate the changes in flora and fauna that occurred during the Mesozoic era.

The fossil record offers some clues about dinosaur behavior. Tracks preserved in sandstone indicate that some of the huge Diplodocus-type dinosaurs traveled in herds with the larger individuals on the outside and the smaller, more vulnerable animals in the center. The courtship behavior of Tyrannosaurus, the social hierarchy within the Diplodocus herd, etc., described in the book are pure speculation. But Haines models his descriptions on animals that occupy similar niches today: Tapejara, a fish-eating pterosaur, nests in remote colonies, like a migratory seabird. However, the suggestion that an old Tyrannosaurus suffered from gout is based on a hotly debated interpretation of the markings on bones of the "Sue" fossil in Chicago's Field Museum.

The striking visuals for the program involved a combination of animatronic figures, puppets, and computer animation. The images work well as illustrations. The formally posed animals in many old paintings had a taxidermic stiffness; these creatures are shown in motion, often in slightly awkward poses, which heightens the illusion that Walking with Dinosaurs is a book of nature photographs.

The result is a highly readable introduction to current theories about dinosaurs that amateur scientists of all ages can enjoy. --Charles Solomon

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