The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life

From the creators of Walking with Dinosaurs comes this stunning visual encyclopedia of prehistoric animals. The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life is a whos who of the prehistoric world from primitive amphibians and giant armoured fish, to predatory dinosaurs and sabre-toothed cats. Tracing the amazing story of the evolution of life on Earth, the book features over 100 of the largest, weirdest and scariest animals that ever existed. Here, for the first time, we meet some of the truly bizarre creatures that thrived hundreds of millions of years before the dinosaurs roamed the Earth: for example, Pterygotus, a three-metre long sea scorpion, and Hyneria, a two-tonne killer fish that was capable of walking on land. Many of these magnificent creatures have never been visualized before. Moving through the dinosaur era, the book recreates these awesome super-beasts and vividly depicts the landscapes in which they lived and died. All the favourites are here from Tyrannosaurus and Diplodocus to Iguanodon and Velociraptor. With the dying out of the dinosaurs we are introduced to a whole new cast of characters, no less fascinating the weird and wonderful mammals that are the ancestors of modern humans. What did these animals eat? How did they raise their young? How did they survive attack? The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life is packed full of the latest scientific evidence on each animals biology, lifestyle and behaviour, and highlights key facts on size, diet and distribution. Illustrated with impressive digital imagery and remarkable fossil finds, this comprehensive field guide brings alive the creatures of the past in a breathtakingly realistic way.

Tim Haines trained as a zoologist before becoming a scientific journalist. He has worked on the BBC program, Nature, as well as its award-winning Ice Mummy trilogy. He is executive producer of the Walking With Dinosaurs series.

Paul Chambers has degrees in geology and paleontology and has worked at the London Natural History Museum. A writer and scientific advisor, he was researcher for the Walking With Dinosaurs series.