Today’s review covers An Anthology of Fossils, authored by Dr. Dean Lomax, famous paleontologist and author of various books such as Prehistoric Pets. This book presents viewers with a collection of various fossils, both famous and obscure.
The content and format of An Anthology of Fossils reminds me strongly of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Life. They both feature organisms from throughout Earth’s history, organized by whether they fall into the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, or Cenozoic Eras. The organisms depicted are not necessarily listed chronologically within those eras, however.
While Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Life featured a picture of a fossil along with an artistic reconstruction, An Anthology of Fossils mostly just features pictures of the fossils, with only occasional illustrations showing what the living creature might have looked like.
The creature profiles are occasionally interspersed with short interstitials that touch on broader topics within paleontology. For example, one highlights important fossil sites, while another showcases some famous paleontologists.
I did note one significant error in this book. Mastodonsaurus is correctly labeled as a Triassic animal, but incorrectly placed in the Paleozoic section. I’m not sure how this oversight happened, but several entries belong to multiple periods, making it slightly arbitrary which era they get placed in. Perhaps Mastodonsaurus got mixed up in that shuffle. Hopefully future editions of the book move it to the correct section.
Between the two, I may slightly prefer Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Life over An Anthology of Fossils, but they are pretty close in quality. This book is smaller in size, though, so if you want a more portable book, then this one may be for you. In any case, I recommend An Anthology of Fossils, and I give it my Dino Dad Stomp of Approval!
Dino Dad Reviews 