Book Review ofThe Sauropods: Evolution and ... and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln.
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences
Great Plains Studies, Center for
10-1-2006
Book Review of The Sauropods: Evolution and Paleobiology Edited by Kristina A. Curry Rogers and Jeffrey A. Wilson. Berkeley Anthony Fiorillo Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas, Texas
Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsresearch Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons Fiorillo, Anthony, "Book Review of The Sauropods: Evolution and Paleobiology Edited by Kristina A. Curry Rogers and Jeffrey A. Wilson. Berkeley" (2006). Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences. Paper 838. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsresearch/838
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Published in GREAT PLAINS RESEARCH 16:2 (Fall 2006). Copyright © 2006 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
BOOK REVIEWS
The Sauropods: Evolution and Paleobiology. Edited by Kristina A. Curry Rogers and Jeffrey A. Wilson. Berkeley, University of California Press, 2005. ix + 349 pp. Photographs, notes, selected bibliography, index. $65.00 cloth. It is a truism that the study of dinosaurs is alive and well. In 2004 the second edition of The Dinosauria was published at 861 pages, an increase of almost 130 pages from the previous edition. The page increase is not overwhelming, but examination of the difference in density of the words on the pages of each edition shows the second to be much more robust. The joke among experts was to question whether the publisher would also be issuing magnifying glasses for readers. It seems that single volumes dedicated to dinosaurs are a thing of the past.
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Indeed , we have now seen volumes by various publishers focused on particular groups within the Dinosauria: armored dinosaurs, carnivorous dinosaurs ; there are plans for a volume on the horned dinosaurs. And here we have the sauropods. Sauropods are those wondrous monoliths (as editors Rogers and Wil son prefer to call them) of the dinosaur world. They represent the largest terrestrial vertebrates ever to walk the earth. With the exception perhaps of Tyrannosaurus rex , they are the quintessential image in the public mind when the word dinosaur is uttered. Characterized unfairly as the epitome of stupidity or bad evolutionary design, given their enormous size and their ridiculously small heads , sauropods instead represent one of the most successful and long-lived of all of the dinosaurian groups. They were around nearly at the beginning of the story of dinosaurs, having evolved in the Late Triassic, and they were there at the end of the Cretaceous. Such an important group is justified in having a volume dedicated to its members. The book's title adequately represents its contents. There are the expected chapters overviewing sauropod phylogeny and evolutionary patterns, and others on the applications of new technological methodologies to understanding paleobiology. The editors try to weave these chapters together into a broad contextual framework. Whereas the respective authors' passions for these marvelous creatures is clear, I was disappointed not to gain insights into what the exciting new directions are for additional sauropod studies, other than of course the discovery of new materials. The volume is dedicated to Dr. John S. McIntosh, and the form of this dedication is what sets this book apart for me. Jack's depth of knowledge and his enthusiasm for sharing it with colleagues remain legendary. When I first investigated questions surrounding sauropods, it was my novice impression that Jack not only was a tremendous store of information, but probably knew every sauropod bone personally. In an interview at the end of the volume entitled "A Conversation with Jack McIntosh," Jack's own words acquaint the unfamiliar reader with the enthusiastic advocacy and the humility of one of the leading fans of sauropod dinosaurs. For many years Jack was the guru on the subject, and the effort by the editors to inject some of his personality into a collection of papers on the science of sauropods is commendable. Thi s book should appeal to anyone interested in sauropods, dinosaurs, and the personality of one paleontologi st who drove the subject for so many years . Anthony R. Fiorillo, Museum of Nature and Scien ce, Dallas.
Great Plains Research Vol. 16 No.2, 2006
