Hilton, R.P. 2003. Dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles of California. – Berkeley/Los Angeles/London, University of California Press

Abstract

As a scientist, one of the jobs that takes up time is reading the ever increasing flow of literature…and most of the time it is the work you are occupied with most. It is often exciting, sometimes boring, but never ending. But if the job consists of reading books like “Dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles of California” one feels lucky that this is actually one’s job!

As usual with books from the University of California Press, the book is conveniently arranged, with clear headings, clear and spacious pages and is absolutely beautifully illustrated. The reconstructions by Ken Kirkland are lively, vivid and true pieces of art. Also, the shadow drawings are of exceptional high quality. All photos are, without exception, clear and bright. But still a few comments can be made. Especially in the beginning of the book, references in the text to a few of the illustrations (figures 1.2, 1.4, 1.5, 1.11, 2.2, 2.4 and 2.5) are missing. Always annoying in my opinion, are photographs whose subjects are not fully exposed, as seen in figure 1.17 and 4.37. Also missed are scale bars; although measurements are sometimes given in the text, a scale bar accompanying drawings, also reconstructions, would help enormously to gain insight in these extinct animals. But without any size indicator, it is really hard to imagine their size. The alternative way of putting knives with the objects, as for instance in figure 3.2, indeed provides the reader with a size indication…but how much would it take to put a scale bar with it? Foreign coins used as scale (figure 2.11) gives me, as European reader, only a very faint idea of the size of the bone. I strongly plea for the inclusion of a scale bar in the standard equipment of persons doing fieldwork. The fact that the measurements are in inches only is a pity; without a doubt the book was written for the American market (only?) and although inches can be calculated into cm, it still is annoying (besides, the metric system is used in science). Read more...