Having grown up reading that birds were at most only distantly related to dinosaurs, I was both startled and fascinated when a growing number of researchers began to argue that birds were the direct descendants of the terrible lizards. At the end of the 1970s, I was becoming involved in the ar¬ gument both as an artist and a scientist. Art and science could not be separated; the science deter¬ mined whether I should adorn the small predatory dinosaurs with scales or with feathers. Alas, there was no simple answer at the time, because there was no fossil evidence for either possibility. What I found disturbing was that many paleontologists were totally biased against illustrating dinosaurs with feathers, even though the available data was neutral on the subject. This bias only boosted my interest in researching bird origins. <...>

Melanosomes are the tiny hollows inside hairs or feathers that contain melanin. Melanin is a pigment that gives the black, brown, grey, and ginger colours to hairs and feathers. We were the first ever – or at least the first on record – to have seen evidence of melanosomes in dinosaurs. If we had got it right, this was evidence of the original colour of their feathers. We could say that for the first time we had discovered for sure the colour of a dinosaur.

Non-bird dinosaurs (“dinosaurs”) are very much in the news these days: dinosaurs had feathers; dinosaurs were warm-blooded; dinosaurs were snuffed out in mere seconds; we’ve just discovered the largest dinosaur ever; we’ve just discovered the smallest dinosaur ever; here is Jurassic World, there is The Good Dinosaur. . . it’s a media blizzard. And why not? Ideas about dinosaurs have moved conceptually far beyond the twentieth century: a few weirdo reptiles that lived on this planet, but were too stupid to survive. Today dinosaurs are recognized as centerpieces of vertebrate evolution; they’re just a whole lot more interesting than they used to be!

We live in a golden age of paleontological discovery—on average, we fi nd one new dinosaur species per week. The most fascinating among them take their place in this updated edition of Dinosaurs—The Grand Tour, from Aardonyx, a lumbering beast that formed a link between two- and four-legged dinosaurs, to Zuniceratops, who boasted a deadly pair of horns.

Here, you’ll fi nd everything worth knowing about every dinosaur worth learning about—more than three hundred in all. At-a-glance sidebars put each dinosaur’s diet, size, and where they roamed at your fi ngertips. Stories of harrowing expeditions conjure the thrills of history’s most famous dinosaur hunters. Highlights from recent research reveal what’s new in paleontology today, including scientists’ evolving ideas of what dinosaurs actually looked like. (Hint: They were more colorful—and feathery!—than we thought before.) And illustrations on virtually every page bring these prehistoric creatures to life in all their glory.

Plus, renowned paleontologist Jack Horner contributes “fi eld notes” to help readers set out on their own expeditions—from seeking fossilized footprints at his recommended sites to planning a cross-country road trip using his list of top North American dinosaurs as a map. You’ll learn what it’s like to be part of the most sensational dino-discoveries ever—and maybe make some of your own!