Product Description
"...a springboard for a number of student projects in the life and Earth sciences....Teachers will find this...a valuable resource...enough information about each mammal for the book to serve as an information source for students, as well as a fun project."--Science Scope. "Added bonuses are the brief information provided about each mammal and introductions to geology, paleontology, and evolution."--School Library Journal.80 pages, 213 b/w illus., 8 1/4 x 11.
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A brief introduction to the history and characteristics of prehistoric mammals in general, and specific descriptions of twelve different kinds. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Cool pictures
This is a great book to introduce the prehistoric mammals to your kid with. I really liked Ruth's illustrations as a kid myself. My son enjoys looking at the pics too. As a resource, it is pretty weak- but there is very little in print at all for kids on the subject.

This is a cool book!
This book colorfully and amazingly portrays the misconception-filled world of ancient mammals. In Short, READ THIS BOOK! ... Read more

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There has never been a more popular time for dinosaurs and all things dinosaurian. From blockbuster films packed with breathtaking CGI effects, children's television and video cartoons, computer games, CD-ROMs, animatronic museum exhibitions, and theme parks, to countless books, magazines, toys large and small, ornaments, collectabilia, and even fun lines in confectionery and other edibles, prehistoric paraphernalia continues to scale new heights of desirability worldwide. But nowhere is this more apparent than within the philatelic world - where the issuing in recent years by an ever-increasing number of countries around the globe of handsome, highly-prized stamp sets depicting a spectacular array of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals is matched only by the corresponding increase of thematic collectors eager to amass an eyecatching, comprehensive menagerie of palaeontological monsters that the custodians of Jurassic Park could only dream about!Today, well over 500 sets of stamps portraying all manner of dinosaurs and also a multifarious assemblage of other prehistoric animals have been issued, with a substantial proportion of these having appeared within the last decade alone - confirming the escalating interest among collectors in this exciting thematic subject.And who can blame them? After all, where else but in the pages of a stamp album could stegosaurs and plesiosaurs, tyrannosaurs and sabre-tooth tigers, brachiosaurs, mammoths, belemnites, ground sloths, giant birds, and ichthyosaurs jostle for attention with velociraptors and trilobites, dimetrodonts and diplodocuses, mosasaurs, woolly rhinoceroses, Archaeopteryx, titanosaurs, iguanodontids, ammonites, giant sea scorpions, and innumerable other spectacular denizens of our planet's distant past?Now, for the very first time, here is a philatelic catalogue devoted exclusively to these incredible animals. Compiled by zoologist Dr Karl P.N. Shuker, a lifelong, enthusiastic collector of wildlife stamps and with an especial interest in those that portray fossil species, it provides an exhaustive, definitive listing of stamps and miniature sheets depicting dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals issued by countries throughout the world. It also includes sections dealing with cryptozoological stamps, dinosaur stamp superlatives, and unofficial prehistoric animal stamps.This invaluable book will undoubtedly encourage everyone with a passion for dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures to pursue it not only on screen, in books, or in museums but also via the ever-fascinating world of philately. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Thoroughly enjoyed it!
I am a long-time fan of Dr. Shuker's work, primarily because of the extensive and often exhaustive research he goes into on every topic he covers.This book is no different. When I am researching (or simply reading for enjoyment), I am very difficult to please because far too often I have found a particular book does not have a full background, or some are just plain erroneous with their "facts".

This book is literally a comprehensive take on the subject (prehistoric animals being a personal favorite subject for me) of prehistoric animals on stamps and I now have a guide by which I can delve further into this topic.

Dr. Shuker is a man of many interests and has written several books on those interests. You will not be dissapointed by checking out ALL his works.

totally disappointing
I should have known better from the price.It is just a mere list of stamps with a few b/w pictures.Dr Shuker has traveled allover the world and still doesn`t know Mèxico is not in Central America.The "book" is just not good.Somewhere in the cover it states that it is the only one of it`s kind (lie), I rather recommend you buy Domfil`s catalogue of prehistoric animals and dinosaur stamps which has hundreds of colour pictures, the only thing with this is that it covers from the first stamp to 2002 so it is 6 years outdated.Dr Shuker is a total waste of money. ... Read more

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Text and illustrations present the life of the dinosaur known as apatosaurus. Includes information on how this prehistoric animal looked, along with its behavior. ... Read more

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In northeast Australia lies one of the most significant fossil deposits in the world--Riversleigh. Here, the remains of many thousands of weird and wonderful prehistoric animals have been superbly preserved in the limestone outcrops.In this award-winning work issued for the first time in the United States, the three principal scientists on this remarkable excavation explain the vast environmental and geographic changes that have occurred in this area since Australia broke away from the continent of Gondwana, and how the animals on board this raft evolved through the ages. Photographs and evocative artwork bring to life the teeming tropical world that once populated the now arid wastes of Riversleigh, and the authors discuss some of the unusual techniques used on a dig, how to recognize fossils, how to date them, and how to reconstruct extinct animals from them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

'Downunder' fossil extravaganza.
Riversleigh is a major World Heritage listed fossil site, primarily discovered in the late 1970s in Queensland, Australia. Since the first discoveries an abundance of prehistoric Australian fauna dating from 25 million years ago to the present has been recovered, preserved in limestone sediments and ancient caves, which testify to a formerly lush rainforest climate prevalent as Australia drifted north from Antarctica. It is unfortunate that most of Australia's present day, rather unique animals are in fact, just a remnant of what once was, when formerly higher rainfall spanned much of the continent. Many lineages and individual species, represented by the abundance recovered at Riversleigh, are now extinct and forgotten, except of course by a few enthusiastic palaeontologists, as described in this book. Readers will be surprised and delighted at the peculiar forms and fantastic colour illustrations and reconstructions presented in this book, and what things can be learnt of their extinction over time, as Australia drifted north.

Exquisitely illustrated, with on-site field notes and diagrams should keep the enthusiastic amateur fossil hunter entertained. An abundance of technical notes, photographs of real specimens and colour reconstructions, many of which uphold Australia's reputation for the unusual and/or the alternative, in terms of evolutionary development. Evolutionary experiments abound with examples which include 'thingadonta' (nobody really knows what it is), several species of marsupial lion, Tasmanian 'wolf' (thylacine) ancestors, flesh-eating kangaroos, several failed lines of kangaroos, several platypus ancestors, giant marsupials such as Diprotodon-the world's largest, a giant wombat, koala ancestors, numerous bats, possums, and creepy critters of all types, are presented. No primates unfortunately, and no bears or dogs, but it is interesting how some of these vacant evolutionary niches were filled by marsupial alternatives-especially in the case of the 'Tasmanian wolf', and the carnivorous marsupial 'lion'. And it is interesting to speculate what kind of alternative type of 'marsupial primate' may have (could still!) have arisen. An upright 'hominid'-like marsupial, wandering the Australian plains-who knows if Australian rainforests hadn't have all but disappeared.

The book puts the various animals and lineages into perspective, describing the changes of climate and habitat loss over the last 25 million years as Australia's climate became drier as the continent drifted north. Many lineages were/are in slow decline before the arrival of the aborigines and Europeans, as Australia's rainforests progressively shrank.

The colour illustrations and landscape reconstructions are a major feature, and they are outstanding. This book is highly recommended for the enthusiastic fossil hunter, or for those just curious in Australian animals and palaeontology in general. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

great for animal, prehistoric, and nature loving kids
my seven-year-old son loves non-fiction. we gifted this book to his kindergarten class a year ago. it's amazing as is "Actual Size" which has a Gorilla on the cover and includes animals that are more current. The pictures are fabulous!

Size matters
In this crazed topsy-turvey world, it's always nice to have something to hold on to.Like the fact that small children are obsessed with dinosaurs, for example.Year after year, babies are born, mature, and grow into bright-eyed preschoolers who shriek continually for just one thing: DINOSAUR BOOKS!!!!!There are worse things in the world.As a children's librarian I see new dino books all the time and usually they're so dull and rote that it's all I can do to keep from falling asleep as I process them.Now about a year ago I had the good fortune to stumble across Steven Jenkins' brilliant, "Actual Size".Cunningly playing on a child's need to interact with a non-fiction title, Jenkins created gorgeous pictures of large and small animals from around the globe at their actual size.Sometimes only a single eye of a critter would fill a page.Other times, you could fit a tiny monkey within the palm of the smallest hand."Prehistoric Actual Size" takes the already grand idea of giving us life-sized cut-out illustrations and mixes in the already existing need for dinosaurs, ancient gigantic millipedes, terror birds, and other animals that no longer exist today.And how the children now wish that they did.

The book knows who its audience it.It gently shows a tiny morgan's tooth that's a mere 4-inches-long on the title page.From this tiny mammal (an ancestor, one might wonder) we turn the page and find ourselves staring at a particularly malevolent Velociraptor (with feathers, no less).Serving the kiddies exactly what they want right from the start allows Jenkins to insert little-known prehistoric goodies alongside the better known.A tiny protozoan the size of a period in this sentence stands beside a sea scorpion of 2 meters or so.Kids will meet creatures they've never even heard of, like the flightless and eight foot tall terror bird that ran as fast as a modern horse.Or the rabbit-like Epigaulus with horns and long claws to match.By the end they'll have gone close to a baryonyx's foot and counted the sharp teeth in a dinocephalosaurus' mouth.It makes, I can tell you, for riveting reading.

It occurs to me now that if you had a kid that was mighty slow in learning his or her measurements, "Prehistoric Actual Size" (and its predecessor, for that matter) might fall into the category of "godsend".Think about it.Each illustration of a creature in this book comes with a small bit of text underneath the image explaining how large the creature was.Let's say you want to teach kids their inches.Just open the book up to the picture of the Saltopus and point out that this smallest of dinosaurs was a mere 24 inches long.In the case of the Velociraptor, a measuring stick could be laid out on top of the book on the ground and an adult could show a kid just how long 6 feet really are.Kids can imagine the dinosaur reposing on the ground, only its maliciously toothy face visible from the book's pages.Math teachers should sit up and take notice.Measuring prehistoric animals and insects might make boring old inches to centimeter discussions into riveting experiments.

Jenkins' illustrations are, as always, remarkable.And for the first time I noticed a real attention to details that most cut-paper artists would never even think of in the first place.Sometimes an animal's eye will contain just the right circle of white felt, giving the eyeballs a shiny glint that would otherwise be lacking.Stare at the pictures long enough and you begin to get a feel for what Jenkins has been able to accomplish.

Just in case you pick up this book, flip through it, and give a cry of rage that the critter on the cover is never defined, merely turn the book over and note that on the back cover we are told that this is the beaky maw of an adult Protoceratops.A baby Protoceratops crawls out of its shell to show yet another difference in size.Comparisons between this book and the original "Actual Size" are inevitable."Actual Size", it occurs to me, did a better job with pure scale.You'd find yourself face-to-eyeball with a giant squid on one page, and then trace the long loopy two-foot tongue of an anteater on another.Here that kind of whimsy is lacking.Jenkins eschews the idea of cramming a creature's extremities (or whatever a tongue constitutes) onto a single page.Though the giant millipede does give the viewer a good visceral shock, the pure pleasure of "Actual Size" feels a bit diluted.A bit strained.Still, none of this is to say that the book won't appeal to the kiddies.I suspect that due to its subject matter, "Prehistoric Actual Size" will be garnering a whole new fan base for itself, all thanks to the dinos within.

The idea that something educational can also be fun has been done to death, and usually with deeply un-fun results."Preshistoric Actual Size" is an exception to that rule.Incredibly informative, beautiful to the eye, and accurate within an inch of its life, Steve Jenkins makes an almost wholly wonderful addition to his already fabulous cut-paper picture books.A title to put Ezra Jack Keats to shame.
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Text and illustrations present the life of the dinosaur known as the diplodocus. Includes information on how this prehistoric animal looked, along with its behavior. ... Read more

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Simple text and illustrations provide information on the physical characteristics, behavior, and habits of the dinosaur known as Tyrannosaurus rex. Written in English and Spanish. ... Read more

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Illus. in full color. "Young dinosaur enthusiasts will find this easy pictorial guide satisfying. Brief statements on marine, hoofed, air-borne, reptilian, and other prehistoric creatures--one to three per page--give information on their eating habits, size, age, and physical appearance."--Booklist. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This is a HUGE favorite in our house
Informative, fascinating and GREAT illustrations of prehistoric animals.My son can't get enough of this book ... Read more

Product Description
Designed for quick and easy reference, this is a study of more than 200 of the weird and wonderful creatures - some of them only recently discovered - that roamed the earth long ago. The text is concise, and is supported by fact-boxes alongside each illustration to highlight key points. Also included are a pronunciation guide, and silhouettes to show relative sizes. The author is a palaeontologist who has written other books on dinosaurs, having travelled the world on fieldwork and research. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an OCR edition without illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from GeneralBooksClub.com. You can also preview excerpts from the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Original Published by: Seeley and Co. in 1909 in 363 pages; Subjects: Geology; Paleontology; History / General; Juvenile Nonfiction / Science & Nature / Earth Sciences / General; Nature / Fossils; Science / Earth Sciences / General; Science / Earth Sciences / Geology; Science / Paleontology; ... Read more

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Fact-filled guide introduces youngsters to the woolly mammoth, the dagger-toothed smilodon, the apelike gigantopithecus, and 9 other ancient creatures. 12 sticker illus.
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Step-by-step instructions for drawing dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, including the apatosaurus, dimetrodon, and sauropelta. ... Read more

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Describes discoveries made by paleontologists regarding how dinosaurs looked and lived millions of years ago. ... Read more

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MONSTERS OF OLD LOS ANGELES- The Prehistoric Animals of the La Brat Tar Pits BY CHARLES ML MARTIN. Illustrated by Herb Raybum. Contents include:Acknowledgments 7 Foreword 9 1. The Sage of the Ages 13 2. Eat to Live 20 3. Primordial Supremacy 29 4. The Stampede 38 5. A New Home 45 6. Life at La Brea 52 7. Ricky Arrives 58 8. Ricky and Racky 67 9. The Rains Come 74 10. The Miracle of Life 81 11. The Greatest Tragedy 88 12. Six-Ton Mother Love 95 13. Thanksgiving Day at La Brea 103 14. The Land of Plenty 110 15. Go West, Young Man 117 Addenda The La Brea Excavations 125 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Wonderful book...
This is an awesome book for any young person...my husband loved it when he was a kid....very nostalgic for him and now we can share it with our son.Very imaginative book...they don't really publish stuff like this anymore.

Monsters of old los angeles
I read this terrific book 52 yrs. ago.I have read it countless times since then,it was a magnificent saga of Ricky the sage,racoon.and his epic strugle of survival around La BREA.CALIFINIA 40,000 yrs ago, when life was a stuggle every day.I would highly recommend this book to anyone say 10 yrs old and older .

Monsters of Old Los Angeles
I read this book as a young child, and found it did much to foster a life-long love of nature and racoons. The lessons about the Pleistocene era animals are invaluable.I have since re-read this book as an adult(age 47) and can tell you that it passes the test of time. This is the only book that I have read so many times(25-30 times as a child and 3x as adult). I found it like Robinson Crusoe, an adventure that I never wanted to end. The story is not perfect, however. Mr. Martin has hawks hunting at night and in the chapter Six Ton Mother Love, the mother Mammoth kills 5 lion-like cats, not the 4 recalled by Mr. Martin. One can find flaws with everything, and these are so minor as to be hardly noticed. This is perhaps one reason why the book is still in print nearly 60 years. ... Read more

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Simple text and illustrations present brachiosaurus, their body parts, and behavior - in both English and Spanish. ... Read more

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Describes the prehistoric ancestors, evolution, and modern-day members of the cat family. ... Read more

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Text and illustrations present the life of the dinosaur known as brachiosaurus. Includes information on how this prehistoric animal looked, along with its behavior. ... Read more