Stone Age Beasts

Stone Age Beasts, written by Ben Lerwill and illustrated by Grahame Baker-Smith, introduces readers to various species of animals alive during “the Stone Age”, a term here broadly equated with the Pleistocene Epoch. It begins with a brief discussion of human society during this time period (mostly that of the later Pleistocene), before moving on to the charismatic megafauna we once coincided with.

The featured animals appear in no particular order, arranged neither by family, time period, or location. The text is accompanied by bold illustrations that occasionally lean towards what many paleoart enthusiasts might dismissively call “awesomebro” art, particularly when it comes to the perpetually snarling carnivores.

All the expected favorites are here, from Wooly Mammoths to Saber-Toothed Cats, but a few less well known animals show up, too. The Wonambi (“Rainbow Serpent”) of Australia and the Giant Lemur of Madagascar are particularly unexpected surprises.

The information is generally pretty accurate, and while some of the illustrations are a bit strange, they’re also pretty accurate, so I won’t knock them for stylistic choices. I’ll even give the bizarre GIant Sloth illustration a pass, as it has been suggested that these animals may have been hairless, though I don’t know that they would have looked quite so much like E.T.!

Stone Age Beasts is a pretty good book on the topic of Pleistocene megafauna, and one I recommend checking out if you get the chance. If you’re interested in this topic, it’s not a bad book to go with, though there’s others I might perhaps recommend before it, such as Mammal Takeover! or Meet the Megafauna.