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"Walking with Dinosaurs", A Review

© Beverly Eschberger

The popular BBC series "Walking with Dinosaurs" can now be seen in the United States, on the Discovery Channel. A companion book, Walking with Dinosaurs: A natural history, by Tim Haines, the producer of the series, is available from Dorling Kindersley Publishing.

"Walking with Dinosaurs" is a fascinating series with extremely realistic animation. It is worth watching just to see dinosaurs walking through the landscape.

In addition to beautiful animation, the series is also very accurate. The producers consulted paleobotanists in order to create scientifically accurate plant life for the dinosaurs to wander through. They also consulted many prominent paleontologists about the most current theories on dinosaur behaviour, physiology, colouration, and sounds.

The series and book both begin in the early Triassic Period (230 to 195 million years ago), when the first dinosaurs were appearing. Early mammals and mammal-like reptiles interact with the dinosaurs as they compete for food or try to escape becoming prey. Amphibians and other reptiles that lived at the same time as the dinosaurs are also shown. In addition to dinosaurs, the series and book highlight the lives of marine reptiles and pterosaurs. The series and book explore the Mesozoic Era (195 to 65 million years ago) through the end of the Cretaceous Period (140 to 65 million years ago), and end with the extinction of dinosaurs through an asteroid impact.

Sidebars are sprinkled liberally throughout the book, illustrating dinosaur skeletons and skulls, the development of arthropods and different kinds of plants, and explaining many topics, such as continental drift. Many different animals and their geographic ranges are shown. Even coprolites and dung beetles get a look!

As shown on the Discovery Channel, the series also includes paleontologists discussing how we have determined certain things about dinosaurs that are not preserved in the fossil record. Karen Chin talks about coprolites. Jack Horner shows the microscopic structure of dinosaur bones, and compares them with other reptiles and birds.

The series and book are both very well done, and both have earned a place in my reference library. I recommend both for anyone interested in dinosaurs and paleontology in general. The book is written in language understandable to young persons and anyone who is not an expert in paleontology, but includes plenty of information to make it thoroughly interesting. (Be sure to read my article "Recommended Paleontology Books" for more great books about paleontology.)