Details
Synopsis
A firsthand account and travelogue of the exceptional career of a paleontologist.
| Size | | Length: | 244 pages | | Height: | 9.0 in | | Width: | 5.5 in | | Thickness: | 0.8 in | | Weight: | 17.6 oz |
Industry Reviews
Excellently translated from the original l994 French edition, Dinosaur Impressions is a fascinating mixture of scientific facts and vivid anecdotes. Renowned paleontologist Taquet relates his incredible 30-year hunt for dinosaur fossils from Africa to Asia, focusing on his exciting discoveries of dinosaur skeletons: Ouranosaurus (Niger l965), Cetiosaurus (Morocco l979), Mandschurosaurus (Laos l990), and Tarbosaurus (Mongolia 1991). His survey includes unearthing and interpreting fossil eggs, skulls, and footprints. Taquet emphasizes the value of comparative anatomy research for understanding and appreciating dinosaur taxonomy, diversity, distribution, and evolution. He also offers glimpses into milestone theories in geology and paleontology concerning continental drift, the Archaeopteryx specimen, and dinosaur extinction. His own scientific fieldwork as a fossil hunter exemplifies the axiom "the more you look, the more you find." Both informative and captivating, this unique book is highly recommended for all academic and public science collections. H. James Birx, Canisius Coll., Buffalo, NY
Kakutani
The highlight of French paleontologist Taquet's illustrious career undoubtedly has been his discovery in 1964 of a new species of dinosaur the ouranosaurus, a fin-backed, Cretaceous herbivore about as long as a limousine that he unearthed in the Saharan wastes of Niger. In this memoir, first published in France four years ago, Taquet (The Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs) devotes two chapters to the creature's discovery and taxonomy, at times straining the patience of the general reader with odontological expositions. By contrast, his explanation of the history and science behind continental drift is remarkably elegant and economical. It's based on his work on the prehistoric crocodile remains in the Gabon basin a croc with ancient relations in Brazil that provided some of the first fossil evidence for the theory of continental drift and tectonic plates. Also detailed is Taquet's retracing, in Laos, of the steps of French geologist Josu?-Heilmann Hoffet at a distance at some 60 years, to prove Taquet's suspicions that the dinosaurs his predecessor identified were iguanodontids like his beloved ouranosaurus and not hadrosaurs. Another adventure finds Taquet in Mongolia, roving the Gobi Desert and digging up enormous sauropods in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Though Taquet is prone to highly technical digressions, he is on the whole an engaging writer, one who has produced a book that's an oddly sweet mix of ephemera and hard science. 18 halftones and 22 line diagrams. (Oct.)
Bukey
The highlight of French paleontologist Taquet's illustrious career undoubtedly has been his discovery in 1964 of a new species of dinosaur the ouranosaurus, a fin-backed, Cretaceous herbivore about as long as a limousine that he unearthed in the Saharan wastes of Niger. In this memoir, first published in France four years ago, Taquet (The Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs) devotes two chapters to the creature's discovery and taxonomy, at times straining the patience of the general reader with odontological expositions. By contrast, his explanation of the history and science behind continental drift is remarkably elegant and economical. It's based on his work on the prehistoric crocodile remains in the Gabon basin a croc with ancient relations in Brazil that provided some of the first fossil evidence for the theory of continental drift and tectonic plates. Also detailed is Taquet's retracing, in Laos, of the steps of French geologist Josu‚-Heilmann Hoffet at a distance at some 60 years, to prove Taquet's suspicions that the dinosaurs his predecessor identified were iguanodontids like his beloved ouranosaurus and not hadrosaurs. Another adventure finds Taquet in Mongolia, roving the Gobi Desert and digging up enormous sauropods in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Though Taquet is prone to highly technical digressions, he is on the whole an engaging writer, one who has produced a book that's an oddly sweet mix of ephemera and hard science. 18 halftones and 22 line diagrams. (Oct.)
Publishers Weekly (08/10/1998)
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