I really appreciate my local discount bookstore chain, Half Price Books. I’ve found many books that managed to otherwise slip past me, and today’s book represents just such a find! As a fan of paleontology and speculative evolution author Dougal Dixon, one would think I would have a better handle on the books he’s written, but apparently Life Size Prehistoric Beasts came out in 2021 without me knowing! (There also seems to be a companion dinosaur volume that had escaped my notice as well that I will have to try to find.)
This book specifically looks at prehistoric mammals, from their origins in the Permian and Triassic, up through the evolution of hominins. Despite the “life size” in the name, the life sized elements are not as prominent as in some other books with the same gimmick. Most pages have an illustration of a fossil scaled at a realistic size, but the majority of illustrations are life reconstructions which are not rendered at a true-to-life scale, even when depciting smaller mammals that could have easily been depicted at a realistic scale.
The illustrations are very good overall, and are provided by artists Juan Call & Eugene Smith. All the creatures represented as accurately as possible, and are pleasantly designed. Unlike the other Dougal Dixon life size book I’ve reviewed, How Big? Dinosaurs, the illustrations all appear to be original to this book, with no plagiarized images this time around.
Dixon’s writing is as informative as ever, with the information presented according to different themes, such as grassland animals or mammals that returned to the water. A lot of cool, obscure species are featured as well, such as sivatheres and Desmostylus.
The book comes packaged with the parts needed to construct a cardstock model of a Smilodon skull, adding an extra level of interactivity to the experience. I would have constructed it here to show off to my readers, but I am planning on re-gifting this particular book, and I wanted to keep it in good condition for that purpose.
All in all, I think Life Size Prehistoric Beasts is a pretty good book. My main criticism is that it could have leaned a little more heavily on the “life size” aspect of it, but it works well otherwise. As it stands, I’m happy enough with it to give it my Stomp of Approval. For more “life size” style books, see my reviews of Prehistoric Actual Size, Lifesize Dinosaurs, and How Big? Dinosaurs.
