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Our understanding of dinosaur behaviour has long been hampered by the inevitable lack of evidence from animals that went extinct more than sixty-five million years ago and whose daily behaviours are rarely reflected by the fossil record. Today, with the discovery of new specimens and the development of new and cutting-edge techniques, palaeontologists are making major advances in reconstructing how dinosaurs lived and acted. Uncovering Dinosaur Behavior provides an unparalleled look at this emerging field of science, presenting the latest findings on dinosaur behaviour and explaining how researchers interpret the often minimal and even conflicting information available to them.
David Hone begins by introducing readers to the fundamentals of dinosaur biology, diversity, and evolution, and goes on to describe behaviours across the whole range of species and groups, from feeding and communication to reproduction, sociality, and combat. Speculation about dinosaur behaviour goes back to the earliest scientific studies of these "terrible lizards". Hone traces how frontier science is opening a window onto prehistoric life like never before, and discusses future directions of research in this thrilling and rapidly growing area of paleontology.
Written by one of the world's leading dinosaur experts and featuring accurate colour recreations by paleoartist Gabriel Ugueto along with a wealth of photos and diagrams, Uncovering Dinosaur Behavior is a foundational work on the subject and an invaluable reference for anyone interested in these amazing creatures.
David Hone is a Reader in Zoology at Queen Mary University of London and the author of How Fast Did T. rex Run? Unsolved Questions from the Frontiers of Dinosaur Science (Princeton) and The Tyrannosaur Chronicles: The Biology of the Tyrant Dinosaurs. He has written about dinosaurs for leading publications such as National Geographic, The Guardian, and HuffPost.
Gabriel Ugueto is a leading scientific illustrator and paleoartist whose work has appeared in numerous books, museum exhibits, and documentaries.
"Hone's frankness is welcome in a post-Jurassic Park world, where misconceptions continue to capture the public's imagination [...] Vigilant and authoritative, Hone sounds the alarm on the at times impulsive and rash nature of paleontology."
– Aaron Tremper, Science News
"This vivid look at the prehistoric past enthralls."
– Publishers Weekly
"Gripping in its conclusions, backed by rigorous science, compelling in its examination of the ways in which dinosaurs behaved, and the interactions of one species with another. A must read!"
– David Gascoigne, Travels with Birds
"[An] eye-opening book."
– Marc Bekoff, Psychology Today
"What dinosaur enthusiast won't enjoy learning interesting stuff about dinosaur nests and effs, bite strength, gargantuan reptile battles, and a variety of anatomic armaments?"
– Tony Miksanek, Booklist
"Hone sets a new agenda for paleontologists and paleozoologists to follow. That program rebalances the scales in researchers' approach to studying ancient life, encouraging them to make comparative biological analyses based on the behavior of extant creatures, while urging caution in reaching definitive conclusions."
– Isaac Schultz, Gizmodo
"[An] overview on dinosaur biology that is highlighted by Gabriel Ugueto's artwork."
– Ian Paulsen, The Birdbooker Report
"An enthralling read that brings long-dead creatures to life. In this bold, brave, and brilliant book, David Hone provides a fascinating and up-to-date exploration of what we know about how dinosaurs actually behaved."
– Chris Packham, naturalist and television presenter
"Fascinating and incisive. This book isn't just about what we know about dinosaur behavior, but importantly, how we know it. In that way, it's not just a book about dinosaurs or even about animal behavior more broadly, it's about how science works and how we can hope to answer difficult questions even when the answers seem lost in time."
– Alice Roberts, author of Crypt: Life, Death, and Disease in the Middle Ages and Beyond
"If you want to know what dinosaurs were like as real living, breathing animals, then read this book. David Hone, a leading researcher on dinosaur biology, is an expert guide to the ways that dinosaurs moved, fed, grew, reproduced, and socialized. Authoritative and readable, Uncovering Dinosaur Behavior is both a great piece of scholarship and popular science writing."
– Steve Brusatte, New York Times bestselling author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs
"Drawing on hundreds of studies of animal ethology and comparing these with the often capricious evidence available from the fossil record, Hone shows how we can deduce dinosaur behavior in a rigorous, evidence-based fashion. Compelling, authoritative, and entertainingly written, this account treats dinosaurs as living animals and shows how it is possible to reconstruct these past worlds from the limited data available to paleontologists. In a field rife with hyperbole, speculation, and unsupported assertions, this book provides an essential critical overview."
– Paul Barrett, coauthor of Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved
