How can paleontologists know what a living dinosaur was like more than a hundred million years ago, particularly when only partial skeletons remain? Focusing on one large carnivorous dinosaur, Acrocanthosaurus (“high-spined lizard”), paleontologist Kenneth Carpenter explains the process, pairing scholarly findings with more than 75 color illustrations to reconstruct “Acro” before readers’ eyes. In Acrocanthosaurus Inside and Out, he offers the most complete portrait possible of this fascinating dinosaur’s appearance, biology, and behavior. Acrocanthosaurus—similar in size to its later cousin Tyrannosaurus rex, but studded with large spines—roamed what is now the south-central United States 110 to 115 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous. Carpenter worked on the most complete of the Acrocanthosaurus skeletons (nicknamed “Fran”) that has been found. Here he describes the techniques that tell us about Acro’s biological makeup, movements, and habits. Studies of joints reveal the range of possible motion, while bumps, ridges, and scars on the bones show where muscles, ligaments, and tendons attached. CT scans allow us to peer into the braincase, while microscopes afford a cross-sectional view of bones. These findings in turn offer an idea of how Acro stalked and ate its prey. Scientific evidence beyond the fossils provides avenues for further inquiry: What does the sedimentary rock encasing Fran’s bones tell us about Acro’s environment? What does our knowledge of Acro’s distant relatives, such as crocodilians and birds, imply about its heart and other soft tissues? Can our understanding of other animals explain Acro’s huge spines? Carpenter distills all this information into a clear, accessible, engaging account that will appeal to general readers and scholars alike. As the first book-length work on Acrocanthosaurus, this volume introduces a prehistoric giant that once stalked Texas and Oklahoma and offers a rare, firsthand glimpse into the trials and triumphs of paleontology.

How can paleontologists know what a living dinosaur was like more than a hundred million years ago, particularly when only partial skeletons remain? Focusing on one large carnivorous dinosaur, Acrocanthosaurus (“high-spined lizard”), paleontologist Kenneth Carpenter explains the process, pairing scholarly findings with more than 75 color illustrations to reconstruct “Acro” before readers’ eyes. In Acrocanthosaurus Inside and Out, he offers the most complete portrait possible of this fascinating dinosaur’s appearance, biology, and behavior. Acrocanthosaurus—similar in size to its later cousin Tyrannosaurus rex, but studded with large spines—roamed what is now the south-central United States 110 to 115 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous. Carpenter worked on the most complete of the Acrocanthosaurus skeletons (nicknamed “Fran”) that has been found. Here he describes the techniques that tell us about Acro’s biological makeup, movements, and habits. Studies of joints reveal the range of possible motion, while bumps, ridges, and scars on the bones show where muscles, ligaments, and tendons attached. CT scans allow us to peer into the braincase, while microscopes afford a cross-sectional view of bones. These findings in turn offer an idea of how Acro stalked and ate its prey. Scientific evidence beyond the fossils provides avenues for further inquiry: What does the sedimentary rock encasing Fran’s bones tell us about Acro’s environment? What does our knowledge of Acro’s distant relatives, such as crocodilians and birds, imply about its heart and other soft tissues? Can our understanding of other animals explain Acro’s huge spines? Carpenter distills all this information into a clear, accessible, engaging account that will appeal to general readers and scholars alike. As the first book-length work on Acrocanthosaurus, this volume introduces a prehistoric giant that once stalked Texas and Oklahoma and offers a rare, firsthand glimpse into the trials and triumphs of paleontology.

This is the true story of Cephis Hall and Sid Love, the two amateur paleontologists who discovered and excavated the acrocanthosaurus, and the ensuing struggles that followed their discovery. The book includes some science and history of southeastern Oklahoma.

A pair of fierce but beautiful eyes look out from the undergrowth of conifers. She is an intelligent killer... So begins one of the most extraordinary novels you will ever read. The time is 120 million years ago, the place is the plains of prehistoric Utah, and the eyes belong to an unforgettable heroine. Her name is Raptor Red, and she is a female Raptor dinosaur. Painting a rich and colorful picture of a lush prehistoric world, leading paleontologist Robert T. Bakker tells his story from within Raptor Red's extraordinary mind, dramatizing his revolutionary theories in this exciting tale. From a tragic loss to the fierce struggle for survival to a daring migration to the Pacific Ocean to escape a deadly new predator, Raptor Red combines fact an fiction to capture for the first time the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors of the most magnificent, enigmatic creatures ever to walk the face of the earth.

On a muddy riverbank, a hungry dinosaur stalks her prey. From her hiding place in the nearby trees, she spies a giant, four-legged plant eater. At the right moment, she leaps from the trees and lunges at the slower dinosaur, tearing at its flanks with teeth and sharp claws. It's an average day in southern Texas, 115 million years ago. This dinosaur attack happened. We know for certain, because these two animals left their footprints in the mud -- and they're still there, hardened into stone for all to see. Dinosaur Hunt presents this dramatic event and brings the two combatants vividly back to life. It is the tale of a young Acrocanthosaurus, a predatory dinosaur similar to T. rex. As she grows she learns to hide, hunt, and survive in the eat-or-be-eaten age of dinosaurs. The astounding, lifelike art of Karen Carr transports us to this strange and threatening world and re-creates one of the most gripping tales a few footprints ever told.

Today, after mountains of time have passed, the story of dinosaurs in what is now Texas is being reconstructed, footprint by footprint, bone by bone. Lone Star Dinosaurs tells that story, along with the exciting tale of the discoveries that have opened a peephole into the past. Behind each fossil find, there is not just a dinosaur but a person - sometimes a child - whose spark of curiosity lights the picture of prehistory. This is a thrilling story, engagingly written and beautifully illustrated, through which young and old alike can enter the world of the dinosaurs and the world of the dinosaur hunters. Dinosaurs like Pleurocoelus, Alamosaurus, Chasmosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, and Tenontosaurus are a Texas legacy from worlds long past. Texas boasts of every basic group of dinosaurs - a remarkable diversity that samples nearly the entire range of dinosaurian development over an immense expanse of time. In fact, the three dinosaur-bearing areas within the state - the Panhandle, Central Texas, and Big Bend - yield treasures of vastly different ages, from the beginning of the Mesozoic Era more than 200 million years ago to the time of the big extinction some 66 million years ago. These dinosaurs lived in such different arrangements of the continents and oceans that they may as well have lived in different worlds. Their stories offer a compelling picture of the history of life on our planet.

A 2016 Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12 (National Science Teachers Association-Children's Book Council The Early Cretaceous brings readers closer to prehistoric life than ever before. What it would be like to see a living, breathing dinosaur? The Early Cretaceous brings readers closer to prehistoric life than ever before. By combining the latest paleontological findings with highly detailed, intimate drawings of wildlife from the Early Cretaceous, readers will look into the eyes of some of the most fascinating creatures to ever inhabit the earth. Written and illustrated in the style of a naturalist's notebook, the viewer will be given a first-hand account of what it is like to stand alongside everything from the first birds to flying dinosaurs to some of the largest creatures ever to walk the earth. Through detailed illustrations and descriptive narrative, readers will discover how some dinosaurs survived polar blizzards, while others were able to pump blood five stories high to reach their brains. While many books on prehistoric life lump dinosaurs into the general timeline of the Mesozoic Period, no book currently dissects plant and animal life during one specific period. This allows the book to explore wildlife seldom featured in publications, many of them recent discoveries. The Early Cretaceous is backed by the research of one of paleontology's most acclaimed theorists, giving the book the most up to date scientific interpretation regarding animal behaviors, interactions, and recreations. "The illustrations and artistic layout are exceptionally beautiful. This is a book children will cherish, keep, and remember, and adults will be delighted to add to their collection." - Sylvia Czerkas, Author and Director The Dinosaur Museum, Utah "The illustrations are fantastic! The Nigersaurus 'grazing' is one of the nicest reconstructions of a rebbachisaurid I've ever seen." - Matthew C. Lamanna, Ph.D., Assistant Curator, Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History "Fantastic artwork!" - Andrew Milner, Paleontologist and Curator at St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site "The art is amazing" - Phil Hore, National Dinosaur Museum, Australia "I *love* it! The style reminds me of a very cool sci-fi book that I had as a kid (and still have), Dougal Dixon's After Man: A Zoology of the Future. Dixon's book is a wonderful, lavishly illustrated introduction to evolutionary principles that helped set me on the path to becoming a professional paleontologist. I suspect your book is going to be similarly inspirational to many of today's aspiring scientists." - Matthew C. Lamanna, Ph.D., Assistant Curator, Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History

You already know the mighty T-Rex and the Apatosaurus, but have you heard of the Baryonyx, the Jobaria, and the Majungatholus? Get out your pencils and prepare to meet some of the more unusual sauruses ever! For example, the gigantic Acrocanthosaurus had extra-tall spines on its back while the flying Iberomesornis was only the size of a sparrow. All the dinosaurs shown here were discovered after 1990-or they are ones for which paleontologists have recently found good new skeletons. By connecting the dots and forming the pictures, you can learn about these amazing animals. (Color them in when you're done.) And, don't forget to look on the labeled map to find out where they lived, and the timeline to see when!

This elegantly illustrated volume is a journey through more than two centuries of remarkable discovery. Books on dinosaurs are usually arranged by classification or epoch, but this unique work tells the story chronologically, in order of the key finds that shaped our understanding and brought these creatures to life for the public. From the fragmentary remains of giant extinct animals found in the early 1800s to the dinosaur wars in the American West to the amazing near-complete skeletons found around the world today, Darren Naish tells how these discoveries have led not only to the recognition of new species and whole new groups, but also to new theories of evolutionary history. Along the way, we encounter dinosaurs both familiar and obscure-including Tyrannosaurus rex, the giant sauropods, and most recently, the feathered dinosaurs of China. As he describes these significant finds, Naish explains in clear, accessible language, how our ideas about dinosaur appearance, biology, and behavior have developed and changed over time, and what the state of knowledge is today. - Discusses each major dinosaur group - Illuminates the human side of fossil discoveries by describing explorers, scientists, and artists - Beautifully designed pages feature extensive captions, engaging text, and sidebars throughout on select topics of interest - Almost 200 illustrations include historical and contemporary photographs, art works, drawings, and maps