National Geographic Prehistoric Mammals

This is a wonderful book. I oftentimes feel as though the age of prehistoric mammals, approximately 63 million years ago to about 10,000 years BC, is largely overlooked, and this tome does a satisfying job of chronicling and organizing the ascension and evolution of mammals. The artwork in this book is superb. Based upon the book's contents, I'm not quite sure why some people are calling this a children's book. Certainly, it's not as technical as a college textbook, but I doubt that was ever the author's intention. Unless you are a hardcore paleontologist or taking a college level course on the subject, this book provides more than enough information to educate and entice all people, both young and old. Would highly recommend to anyone wanting to know a little bit more about the fantastic (and hairy) beasts that used to walk the Earth.

This is an excellent overview of mammalian evolution for the general reader. In no way would I consider this a "children's" book. The book covers representative species of the major mammalian orders, which include range maps, a colored species time mark on a geological time line, a species size graphic, and a basic narrative. This is all the information that is necessary to get an overview of mammalian evolution. Each species is covered on a two page spread using the same format making it easy to locate items of specific interest.If I have one issue, it is that the geological is often not linear, such as the 2 million year long Pleistocene era being shown as 3 inches long, and the 3 million year long Pliocene being shown below the Pleistocene as 1 inch long. However, I don't know if a linear scale would be practical.In the normal National Geographic fashion, the graphics are excellent.

This is a great book, very nicely illustrated, with very interesting facts about prehistoric mammals. I think illustrations, the fact box, the size chart and the descriptions are all well design and contribute to a satisfying and enticing reading experience kids and grown up will enjoy.

As far as printing quality, solid info and artistic craftsmanship go, this is a (very) good book. But it's also a somewhat boring one, lacking a more daring, dynamic approach to the various prehistoric ecosystems and the relationships between various species. Also, as a Brazilian, I must protest about the lazy approach to the information on prehistoric South American faunas, which relies wholly on the information provided by Argentinian sites studied by Darwin in the XIXth. Century, completely ignoring the recent work made by Brazilian researchers on sites such as the Itaborai formation, just in the neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro; also ignored is the Rio National Museum, with its fine fossil specimens excavated in the Lagoa Santa site during the late XIXth. Century including complete skeletons of a ground sloth and a sabertooth.

Extremely interesting and educational. We know a lot more about prehistoric mammals than we did a few years ago. Amazing how many different kinds of mammals lived so long ago.

My kid loves this book, and I do, too! Absolutely gorgeous artwork makes this a real treat to read. It captures the drama and beauty of the prehistoric world, bringing the animals and environments to life in a way that has truly inspired my five-year-old, who says he'd like to become a paleontologist. Kudos to the artist and author for creating a work that will have a forever home on our bookshelf.

My son has been looking for a book on prehistoric mammals for several months & this truly fit the bill. He was very excited when he opened it up on Christmas morning, but his excitement didn't match my level of disappointment when the very first time he opened it, the pages fell out. The binding glue didn't hold & completely separated from the cover. I am assuming this is just "one of those things that happen" & we should be able to easily fix with some crazy glue. I would give this 5 stars for the content because it was exactly what he wanted, but when it falls apart in his lap, that kind of takes away from the excitement of the moment. Not quite the look on his face that I was hoping for.

Decent books about prehistoric mammals can be hard to find so if you're looking for on, here it is. I love this book! It has more species of prehistoric mammals than I had hoped for. The reading is easy and the illustrations really pull you into this long forgotten world. I highly recommend this book to anyone that desires to learn more about these wonderful prehistoric beasts.

This was a secondhand book that was in great condition. My son with autism noticed some pages breaking from the binding. He fixed it with tape, no big deal. He is so happy to have this book.

Wunderschön gestaltetes Buch über die bekanntesten prähistorischen Säugetiere.Ein tolles Buch

Les images sont magnifiques. Ce ne sont que des descriptions de certains animaux. La philogénie à peine esquissée et pas de cladistique. Les données ne tiennent pas comptes des dernières acquisitions et les ancêtres de l'homme ne tiennent pas compte des nouvelles données.

Quería un libro sobre los mamíferos extintos, y eso es lo que he encontrado, un libro muy didáctico gracias a sus fact files y las hermosas y detallistas ilustraciones. Es una obra muy interesante y apropiada para adolescentes y personas no expertas en paleontología, pero también es muy agradable para el experto, pues si bien no se trata de un libro científico sino de divulgación popular, está hecho con evidente rigor.

For those who want a book on prehistoric mammals of the same quality and detail as the many available on the dinosaurs, this book is for you. mauricio anton is simply the best illustrator in the field, particularly good at prehistoric cats, and the book is organised in a very efficient way with sections on all the major classes of extinct mammals.Possibly the most valuable general interest book on prehistoric life since 'life before man', as it covers an area often underrepresented in general surveys, and the illustrations are by the best artist in the field.