FOSSILS FROM LOST WORLDS

A history of prehistoric animal life on Earth according to the paleontological record.

Alas, this chronological survey stands out from the thundering herd neither for the lifeless presentation (in Hahn’s translation, anyway) of standard-issue facts nor the lackadaisical quality of the drably hued paleo-art. The presentation alternates sets of overview panels (often with airy commentary: “So, what can you see?” says one amphibian from the shallows; “One small step on land, a giant leap for evolution!” says its companion as it climbs out) and full-page illustrations of 24 creatures in, mostly, inaction. Though the gallery does include some less-prominent entries like Ticinosuchus and early mammal Purgatorius among the usual suspects, the latter is depicted as a burrow dweller on one page but arboreal on the next—and elsewhere a view of human hunters spearing a T. rex will likewise confuse viewers who don’t understand that what they are seeing is supposed to be a scene from a cheesy movie. Mary Anning and a few other (White) bone hunters do step in for introductions along the way, and a stratigraphic chart of geological periods (ending in the Quaternary) offers helpful relative placements for all of the prehistoric selections.

A perfunctory sift through thoroughly dug-over territory.