DINOSAUR EXPLORERS

Red meat for budding dinomaniacs eager to fill gaps in their knowledge of dinosaur anatomy, behavior, and family trees.

The “meat” bit is literal (visually, anyway) in this Italian import, as lists of features characteristic to carnivores are tagged with an image of a steak (those for herbivores get a sprig of tasty fern). The survey, presented in a variety of infographics, begins with a pair of winding timelines carrying bite-sized narrative blocks and flat, stylized dinos. It then goes on to group the dinosaurs—generally though not always to scale—according to types of bodies and defensive armament, relative sizes, eggs, teeth, plumage and colors, and probable nesting and herding habits. Following a tender if disappointingly generalized look at “Dinosaur Romance” and a glance at bird evolution, nods to Mesozoic flying and marine reptiles tuck up loose ends. A helpful index/glossary precedes a teeming prehistoric portrait gallery at the end. Broad as the coverage is, though, awkward design leaves readers to stumble over occasional unlabeled images and vice versa. Moreover, though De Amicis’ graphics are generally well designed, her arty cycads in one scene look weirdly like ghostly giant humans marching among a herd of sauropods, and elsewhere some dinosaurs seem to have foliage sprouting out of their bodies. Human figures added for scale are all silhouettes. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Though rough around the edges, it’s witty on occasion and chock full of dinosaurs throughout.