The American Museum of Natural History's book of dinosaurs and other ancient creatures

About this book

Now, with The American Museum of Natural History's Book of Dinosaurs and Other Ancient Creatures, dinosaur lovers of all ages can take both an exciting behind-the-scenes look at the explorers who unearthed these intriguing fossils as well as an in-depth armchair tour of the animals on display in the Museum's fossil halls. This beautiful, full-color illustrated volume brings the world-famous Museum, its collectors, and its collection vividly to life. Brimming with offbeat tidbits and anecdotes about the fossil hunters and their discoveries, this insider's companion to the Museum includes profiles of such men as Henry Fairfield Osborn, the first curator of the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Museum; Barnum Brown, the Museum's premier fossil hunter for more than sixty years and the first to discover a specimen of the magnificent carnivore Tyrannosaurus rex; Charles Sternberg, who devoted his outwardly successful but personally troubled life to collecting dinosaur and other fossils; and Roy Chapman Andrews, who is said to be the real-life model for the movie character Indiana Jones and who made the world-famous discovery of the first dinosaur eggs. Visitors to the American Museum of Natural History's renovated vertebrate paleontology halls are in for an awe-inspiring treat. Featuring fossils of dinosaurs as well as mammals, amphibians, and other ancient creatures, these breathtaking new halls showcase more than eight hundred spectacular prehistoric fossil specimens and share the latest in scientific thinking regarding ancient life. Complete with interactive computer programs and new models that take full advantage of modern technology to depict dinosaurs and other ancient animals as they would have looked millions of years ago, the exhibition halls also display the Museum's best-known and most widely recognized fossil specimens, paying homage to the talent and devotion of the fossil hunters from the Museum's Department of Vertebrate Paleontology who have collected, assembled, and analyzed this world-renowned collection.