Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #366779 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-04
• Released on: 2007-12-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 64 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780753460474
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"[T]he...audience...should be captivated by...the dramatic account of prehistoric life and the up-close look at a modern dig." PW 12/24/07 (Publishers Weekly, Starred )

About the Author
Dr. Phil Manning is a paleontology lecturer and a research fellow at the University of Manchester in England. He has appeared and consulted on numerous television shows, and he presents public lectures and exhibitions at schools, universities, and science festivals around the world. He regularly writes for academic journals and the media.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Foreword

I have been passionate about dinosaurs ever since my oldest brother, Ryan,
and I found the fossilized jaw of a duck-billed hadrosaur when I was six years
old.The fossil, which I still have in a shoebox in my bedroom, made me want
to learn everything about hadrosaurs and all of the other dinosaurs. The fossil
also made me realize that anyone can hunt for and find dinosaurs. At the age
of six, I was too young to look for fossils by myself, but I was very
determined. I managed to persuade my very patient and loving mother
to drive me out to the remote Hell Creek badlands, which surround my
hometown of Marmarth, North Dakota. She would sit in a lawn chair with one
eye on her book and one eye on me as I dug around in the dirt, looking
for more dinosaur bones.

As a teenager, my persistence and passion grew.With a fellow budding fossil
expert, I set up the Marmarth Research Foundation, an organization devoted
to the excavation, preservation, and study of dinosaur fossils.The
headquarters were in a garage, but that didn't hold us back—soon bones
from Triceratops, Pachycephalosaurus, and even T. rex were pouring in. But
none of those finds came close to my discovery, aged 16, on a late summer
evening while fossil hunting on my uncle's ranch. I found Dakota, a mummified
duck-billed dinosaur—a "dinomummy" so rare and so special that it could
change the way that we think about dinosaurs.

Dinomummy is Dakota's story. It's an adventure through time as well
as science. Enjoy the ride!

Tyler Lyson, PhD student of paleontology at Yale University, founder of the
Marmarth Research Foundation, and discoverer of Dakota

It is the age of the dinosaurs, a time when the largest creatures that ever
lived walked on Earth. One of these strange reptiles, a hadrosaur, emerges
from the ferns and lush plants that line the river. Sixty-five million years from
now, he will be recognized as one of the most important dinosaurs ever
found, and he will be named Dakota. But today, stepping into the morning
sun, unaware of his future, the animal thinks only of surviving another day in
Hell Creek.

A large and heavy dinosaur, Dakota moves cautiously on thick,muscular legs
to reach the river's edge.The toes of his padded feet spread wide to stop him
from sinking into the wet sand, and his tail sways gently to balance his long
body. He is not yet an adult, but already he is almost 26 feet long, nearly the
length of a bus. Dakota drops onto slender forearms, ready to drink.

Suddenly, across the water, two male Pachycephalosaurus clash in a violent
display of strength. Dakota watches as they charge at each other like
battering rams, delivering powerful blows with their thick, domed skulls.
Today, their aggressive head butts are designed to impress females of their
type. On other days, they might be used in defense against predators.

Another plant eater is quietly watching the contest.The three-horned
Triceratops is better prepared for defending herself against the giant
carnivores of Hell Creek. A heavy and powerful creature, around twice the
size of a rhinoceros, she can cause severe damage with her two longest
horns while remaining protected by her solid neck frill. Dakota has no such
armor or weapons.

Dakota returns to the protection of his herd, which is grazing nearby.These
gentle plant eaters rely on safety in numbers.Young and vulnerable, Dakota
buries himself in the center of the group.

It is the fall, and the hadrosaurs have just arrived in Hell Creek. Every year,
they migrate from the north to escape its cool, dry winters. Hell Creek is
warm and wet all year round, and the herd has come to feed on
its lush plant life.

A lone Ankylosaurus, slow and heavy under the weight of her armored plates,
joins the hadrosaurs.The movements of the dinosaurs do not go unnoticed.
From the cover of nearby vegetation, a pack of Saurornitholestes
quietly emerges.These vicious raptors are stalking the herd, waiting for the
right moment to attack.

The Saurornitholestes have chosen their victim. But this time, it is not Dakota
or another hadrosaur—it is the young Ankylosaurus.The predators, intelligent
and fast, circle the dinosaur and snap at her with razor-sharp teeth.

As Dakota turns to flee, he sees one of the raptors leap onto the animal's
back and climb up it using its curved claws as hooks. But the desperate
attacker will struggle to pierce the armored plating of his prey.Then
Ankylosaurus, with a heavy blow from his large tail club, knocks aside
another Saurornitholestes like a bowling pin.The battle will be long and hard.
Dakota does not stay around to watch.

As Dakota turns to flee, he sees one of the raptors leap onto the animal's
back and climb up it using its curved claws as hooks. But the desperate
attacker will struggle to pierce the armored plating of his prey.Then
Ankylosaurus, with a heavy blow from his large tail club, knocks aside
another Saurornitholestes like a bowling pin.The battle will be long and hard.
Dakota does not stay around to watch.

Tyrannosaurus rex! The herd begins to snort and shriek in terror. As the
hadrosaurs struggle to turn and flee, they kick clouds of dust into the hot
air.The giant predator surveys the scene slowly, looking for an easy victim.
She spots a young adult on the far left of the herd. It's Dakota. Mouth bulging
with teeth like steak knives, the tyrannosaur begins to stride through the
water . . .

It is the end of the day. As the sun sets over Hell Creek, Dakota lies still
and silent. He has not survived. Strangely, there are no signs of
injury to his body. If he was killed by the Tyrannosaurus rex, why wasn't he
torn to pieces? Why wasn't he eaten?

Millions and millions of years will pass before these questions find answers.
Dakota's body will lie buried in Hell Creek while Earth's continents collide to
form towering mountains, ice ages come and go, and humans take their very
first footsteps.

But for now, for the dinosaurs of Hell Creek,a new destruction is just around
the corner . . .

Customer Reviews

A good read!
My 9 year old granddaughter, interested in dinosaurs since she could walk, received Dinomummy for Xmas. Our Santa handed it out---about the 3rd present she received. When she opened it, we lost her! She read the entire book as fast as she could, loved it and lost interest in other presents for a while. The pictures are stunning, as is indicated just looking at the cover. Wonderful book. Hallett Luscombe

8 yr. old sons book.
My son loves this book. He carried it around on Christmas day like a trophy,and read it to his siblings right away. Now he wants the adult version to learn more.

My son is really enjoying this book!
My son is interested in archaeology,and dinosaurs especially, and so is really enjoying this book. It's very well written and illustrated.