The New Dinosaurs

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The New Dinosaurs
An Alternative Evolution
Dixon 1988 The New Dinosaurs resized.jpg
First Edition cover. The cover depicts the Cutlasstooth (Caedosaurus gladiadens), a coelurosaur apex predator from South America.
Author Dougal Dixon
LanguageEnglish
Genre Speculative evolution
Publisher Grafton (UK)
Salem House (US)
Publication date
1988
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (hardback and paperback)
Pages120
ISBN 978-0881623017

The New Dinosaurs: An Alternative Evolution is a 1988 speculative evolution book written by Scottish geologist and palaeontologist Dougal Dixon and illustrated by several illustrators including Amanda Barlow, Peter Barrett, John Butler, Jeane Colville, Anthony Duke, Andy Farmer, Lee Gibbons, Steve Holden, Philip Hood, Martin Knowelden, Sean Milne, Denys Ovenden and Joyce Tuhill. [1] The book also features a foreword by Desmond Morris. The New Dinosaurs explores a hypothetical alternate Earth, complete with animals and ecosystems, where the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event never occurred, leaving non-avian dinosaurs and other Mesozoic animals an additional 65 million years to evolve and adapt over the course of the Cenozoic to the present day.

Contents

The New Dinosaurs is Dixon's second work on speculative evolution, following After Man (1981). Like After Man, The New Dinosaurs uses its own fictional setting and hypothetical wildlife to explain natural processes with fictitious examples, in this case the concept of zoogeography and biogeographic realms. It was followed by another speculative evolution work by Dixon in 1990, Man After Man .

Although criticised by some palaeontologists upon its release, [2] several of Dixon's hypothetical dinosaurs bear a coincidental resemblance in both appearance and behaviour to dinosaurs that were discovered after the book's publication. As a general example, many of the fictional dinosaurs are depicted with feathers, something that was not yet widely accepted when the book was written. [3] [4]

Plot

In total, about sixty animals are described in the book, about half of the amount featured in After Man, for example, the group of tree-climbing, Compsognathus-like theropods called "arbrosaurs", spread around the globe, dirct descendants of Maniraptora. They are the most discussed animals in the book

There are also the huge, terrestrial, Pteranodon-like pterosaurs such as the giraffe-like "lank"; colonial Stygimoloch; descendants of the Mesozoic Gryposaurus called "sprintosaurs" that are adapted to a new lifestyle on the grass-covered plains of North America; amphibious Rhabdodons; flamingo-like Sinosauropteryx; and Iguanodons capable of jumping like kangaroos. In the far north, large migratory birds such as the "tromble" with legs almost like tree trunks, roam the land.

In terms of predators, the Sinosauropteryx and Compsognathus all dominate in terms of number and diversity, often having unique adaptations. For instance, the apex predator of the South American pampas, the Coelurus-like "cutlasstooth", has evolved huge, cutting teeth to allow it to prey upon large sauropods. The pampas is also home to the last of the Teratophoneus, the large scavenging "gourmand". There are also various types of Dromaeosaurus, including the "jinx", adapted to mimic larger herbivorous dinosaurs through scent and appearance.

The world's oceans are home to various pterodactyls, such as seagull-like and penguin-like forms. There is also the "whulk", a massive whale-like Dolichorhynchops that feeds exclusively on plankton. The "kraken", an enormous ammonite, uses specialized tentacles to entangle and sting anything that comes near it.

Development

Following the success of his previous speculative evolution book After Man in 1981, Dixon realized that there was a market for popular-level books which use fictional examples and settings to explain actual factual scientific processes. After Man had explained the process of evolution by creating a complex hypothetical future ecosystem, The New Dinosaurs was instead aimed at creating a book on zoogeography, a subject the general public was quite unfamiliar with, by using a fictional world in which the non-avian dinosaurs had not gone extinct to explain the process. [3]

Dixon envisioned dinosaurs as undergoing more change during the last 65 million years than they had during their previous 130 million years of existence due both more dramatic changes in climate and the continents being further separated during the Cenozoic than they were in the Mesozoic. [5] The dinosaurs and other animals in The New Dinosaurs were heavily influenced by the paleontology of its time. The ideas of the Dinosaur Renaissance – replacing the older ideas of dinosaurs as dumb and slow creatures with active, agile and bird-like animals – are heavily used in the book. [4] Dixon extrapolated on the ideas of paleontologists such as Robert Bakker and Gregory S. Paul when creating his creatures and also used patterns seen in the actual evolutionary history of the dinosaurs and pushing them to an extreme, such as with the creation of the "gourmand", an armless and massive scavenger descended from the tyrannosaurids. [3]

The animals in The New Dinosaurs can be more or less divided into animals that have convergently evolved to resemble real modern animals (for instance animals reminiscent of giraffes and kangaroos) and animals that are completely new. [5] Dixon decided not to have any dinosaurs achieve human levels of intelligence (i.e. "dinosauroids") in The New Dinosaurs due to intelligence not having "[proven] itself as a feature that has any evolutionary advantage at all". [6]

According to Dixon's own website, "Dinosaur science has moved on since first publication in 1988, and the original introduction of the book has aged considerably." Dixon has worked to revise and update this information for more recent international editions of The New Dinosaurs. [7]

Reception

The New Dinosaurs became a bestseller upon its release [8] and like its predecessor After Man, The New Dinosaurs garnered positive reviews from critics. William F. Allman, writing for the U.S. News & World Report , praised the fact that Dixon had extrapolated his designs from real dinosaur ancestors and concluded that although whimsical at times, most dinosaur researchers would agree with the book insofar that had the asteroid that brought their extinction not hit the planet, dinosaurs would probably dominate the planet to this day. Reviews in Smithsonian , School Library Journal and Booklist were also positive, with reviewers calling the book an "alternative history of the world" and a "quintessential 'what if' book for dinosaur enthusiasts". [9]

Many of the animals featured in the book were criticized by paleontologists and science writers, particularly in that so many of the animals are entirely convergent with actual modern-day animals. In this capacity, the "lank", a four-legged, terrestrial and grazing pterosaur derived from the Cretaceous family Azhdarchidae, has been seen by some writers as perhaps the worst offender. In a 1990 review of the book, researcher Gregory S. Paul called the creature "perhaps the worst beast in the book" and "unbelievable", pointing out that he thought it was infeasible that pterosaurs would evolve into giraffe-like animals before the more dominant and already terrestrial dinosaurs. In 1992, researcher David Unwin echoed the same sentiment, viewing four-legged and grass-eating pterosaurs as highly unlikely. In 2008, British paleontologist and science writer Darren Naish offered a more redeeming look at the animal, pointing out that if pterosaurs were to become terrestrial, azhdarchids were the most likely group to do so and that azhdarchids would have used a gait similar to that of giraffes when walking. Paul, Unwin and Naish all pointed out that the sheer diversity seen in pterosaurs within the book is somewhat unlikely as the group was low in diversity at the point of the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, the azhdarchids being the only living group. Paul even went on to state that he considered pterosaurs surviving into the Cenozoic "doubtful" even if the extinction event had not happened. [2]

Legacy

Many of the hypothetical animals created for The New Dinosaurs ended up resembling actual Mesozoic creatures that have since been discovered, both in appearance and in behaviour. [4] Many of the hypothetical dinosaurs featured in the book are covered in fuzzy integument, which in modern times have been discovered in dinosaurs of most groups. The tree-climbing arbrosaurs are similar to actual tree-climbing small theropods such as Microraptor (described in 2000) and the large terrestrial pterosaurs, such as the aforementioned "lank", resemble some animals in the actual pterosaur group Azhdarchidae. [3] Further examples include the ant-eating "pangaloon" (which resembles some later discovered alvarezsaurids) and the tree-climbing "nauger" with elongated fingers (which resembles Scansoriopteryx ). [4]

Peter Jackson's 2005 film King Kong featured a complete ecosystem on the film's version of Skull Island populated with descendants of Mesozoic animals. The designers of these animals (Weta Workshop) were inspired by Dixon's works, in particular The New Dinosaurs. [10] [11] In 2008, The New Dinosaurs was adapted into a Japanese manga series by Tokyo-based company Diamond. [9]

Related Research Articles

The Mesozoic Era is the era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about 252 to 66 million years ago, comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of gymnosperms and of archosaurian reptiles, such as the dinosaurs; a hot greenhouse climate; and the tectonic break-up of Pangaea. The Mesozoic is the middle of the three eras since complex life evolved: the Paleozoic, the Mesozoic, and the Cenozoic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pterosaur</span> Flying reptiles of the extinct clade or order Pterosauria

Pterosaurs are an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous. Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight. Their wings were formed by a membrane of skin, muscle, and other tissues stretching from the ankles to a dramatically lengthened fourth finger.

<i>Quetzalcoatlus</i> Genus of azhdarchid pterosaurs from the Late Cretaceous

Quetzalcoatlus is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous Maastrichtian age of North America. The first specimen, recovered in 1971 from the Javelina Formation, consists of several wing fragments. It was made the holotype of Quetzalcoatlus northropi in 1975 by Douglas Lawson and was named after the Aztec serpent god, Quetzalcōātl, and Jack Northrop, designer of tailless fixed-wing aircraft. The remains of a second species were found between 1972 and 1974, also by Lawson, around 40 km (25 mi) from the type of Q. northropi. In 2021, these remains were assigned the name Quetzalcoatlus lawsoni by Brian Andres and (posthumously) Wann Langston Jr.

<i>After Man</i> Book by the Scottish geologist and author Dougal Dixon

After Man: A Zoology of the Future is a 1981 speculative evolution book written by Scottish geologist and palaeontologist Dougal Dixon and illustrated by several illustrators including Diz Wallis, John Butler, Brian McIntyre, Philip Hood, Roy Woodard and Gary Marsh. The book features a foreword by Desmond Morris. After Man explores a hypothetical future set 50 million years after extinction of humanity, a time period Dixon dubs the "Posthomic", which is inhabited by animals that have evolved from survivors of a mass extinction succeeding our own time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dougal Dixon</span> Scottish geologist, paleontologist, educator and author

Dougal Dixon is a Scottish geologist, palaeontologist, educator and author. Dixon has written well over a hundred books on geology and palaeontology, many of them for children, which have been credited with attracting many to the study of the prehistoric animals. Because of his work as a prolific science writer, he has also served as a consultant on dinosaur programmes.

<i>Man After Man</i> Book by Dougal Dixon

Man After Man: An Anthropology of the Future is a 1990 speculative evolution and science fiction book written by Scottish geologist and palaeontologist Dougal Dixon and illustrated by Philip Hood. The book also features a foreword by Brian Aldiss. Man After Man explores a hypothetical future path of human evolution set from 200 years in the future to 5 million years in the future, with several future human species evolving through genetic engineering and natural means through the course of the book.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darren Naish</span> British palaeontologist and science writer (born 1975)

Darren William Naish is a British vertebrate palaeontologist, author and science communicator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azhdarchidae</span> Family of large azhdarchoid pterosaurs

Azhdarchidae is a family of pterosaurs known primarily from the Late Cretaceous Period, though an isolated vertebra apparently from an azhdarchid is known from the Early Cretaceous as well. Azhdarchids are mainly known for including some of the largest flying animals discovered, but smaller cat-size members have also been found. Originally considered a sub-family of Pteranodontidae, Nesov (1984) named the Azhdarchinae to include the pterosaurs Azhdarcho, Quetzalcoatlus, and Titanopteryx. They were among the last known surviving members of the pterosaurs, and were a rather successful group with a worldwide distribution. Previously it was thought that by the end of the Cretaceous, most pterosaur families except for the Azhdarchidae disappeared from the fossil record, but recent studies indicate a wealth of pterosaurian fauna, including pteranodontids, nyctosaurids, tapejarids and several indeterminate forms. In several analyses, some taxa such as Navajodactylus, Bakonydraco and Montanazhdarcho were moved from Azhdarchidae to other clades.

<i>Azhdarcho</i> Genus of azhdarchid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous

Azhdarcho is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur from the late Cretaceous Period of the Bissekty Formation of Uzbekistan, as well as the Zhirkindek Formation of Kazakhstan and possibly also the Ialovachsk Formation of Tajikistan. It is known from fragmentary remains including the distinctive, elongated neck vertebrae that characterizes members of the family Azhdarchidae, a family that includes many giant pterosaurs such as Quetzalcoatlus. The name Azhdarcho comes from the Persian word azhdar (اژدر), a dragon-like creature in Persian mythology. The type species is Azhdarcho lancicollis. The specific epithet lancicollis is derived from the Latin words lancea and collum ("neck").

<i>Hatzegopteryx</i> Genus of large azhdarchid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous

Hatzegopteryx is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur found in the late Maastrichtian deposits of the Densuş Ciula Formation, an outcropping in Transylvania, Romania. It is known only from the type species, Hatzegopteryx thambema, named by Buffetaut et al. in 2002 based on parts of the skull and humerus. Additional specimens, including a neck vertebra, were later placed in the genus, representing a range of sizes. The largest of these remains indicate it was among the biggest pterosaurs, with an estimated wingspan of 10 to 12 metres.

<i>Phosphatodraco</i> Late Cretaceous genus of pterosaur

Phosphatodraco is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous of what is now Morocco. In 2000, a pterosaur specimen consisting of five cervical (neck) vertebrae was discovered in the Ouled Abdoun Phosphatic Basin. The specimen was made the holotype of the new genus and species Phosphatodraco mauritanicus in 2003; the genus name means "dragon from the phosphates", and the specific name refers to the region of Mauretania. Phosphatodraco was the first Late Cretaceous pterosaur known from North Africa, and the second pterosaur genus described from Morocco. It is one of the only known azhdarchids preserving a relatively complete neck, and was one of the last known pterosaurs. Additional cervical vertebrae have since been assigned to the genus, and it has been suggested that fossils of the pterosaur Tethydraco represent wing elements of Phosphatodraco.

Gareth John Dyke is a paleontologist whose work is concerned with the evolutionary history of birds and their dinosaurian relatives. His specific research interests include the phylogenetics of birds, the functional morphology of aves and non-avian dinosaurs, as well as the paleoenvironments of fossil vertebrates.

<i>All Yesterdays</i> Book by Darren Naish, C.M. Kosemen and John Conway

All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals is a 2012 art book on the palaeoartistic reconstruction of dinosaurs and other extinct animals by John Conway, C. M. Kosemen and Darren Naish. A central tenet of the book concerns the fact that many dinosaur reconstructions are outdated, overly conservative, and inconsistent with the variation observed in modern animals. This focus is communicated through an exploration of views of dinosaurs and related animals that are unusual and sometimes even confusing to viewers, but which are well within the bounds of behaviour, anatomy and soft tissue that we see in living animals.

<i>Eurazhdarcho</i> Genus of azhdarchid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous

Eurazhdarcho is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous period of what is now the Transylvanian Basin of Romania. Its fossil remains dated back 69 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speculative evolution</span> Science fiction genre exploring hypothetical scenarios in the evolution of life

Speculative evolution is a subgenre of science fiction and an artistic movement focused on hypothetical scenarios in the evolution of life, and a significant form of fictional biology. It is also known as speculative biology and it is referred to as speculative zoology in regards to hypothetical animals. Works incorporating speculative evolution may have entirely conceptual species that evolve on a planet other than Earth, or they may be an alternate history focused on an alternate evolution of terrestrial life. Speculative evolution is often considered hard science fiction because of its strong connection to and basis in science, particularly biology.

<i>Argentinadraco</i> Genus of azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous

Argentinadraco is an extinct genus of azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous Portezuelo Formation of Argentina. It contains a single species, A. barrealensis, named in 2017 by Alexander Kellner and Jorge Calvo. Argentinadraco is unusual for bearing a bottom jaw with a concave bottom edge, as well as a pair of ridges and depressions on the top surface. These features distinguish it from all other azhdarchoid groups, complicating its assignment, but it may belong to the Chaoyangopteridae. The ridges on the lower jaw may have been used to feed on small invertebrates in loose sediment within the system of lakes and rivers that it resided in.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark P. Witton</span> British palaeontologist, author and palaeoartist

Mark Paul Witton is a British vertebrate palaeontologist, author, and palaeoartist best known for his research and illustrations concerning pterosaurs, the extinct flying reptiles that lived alongside dinosaurs. He has worked with museums and universities around the world to reconstruct extinct animals, including as consultant to the BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs franchise, Planet Dinosaur, and Prehistoric Planet, and has published several critically acclaimed books on palaeontology and palaeoart.

<i>Greenworld</i> 2010 novel by Dougal Dixon

Greenworld is a 2010 speculative evolution and science fiction book written by Scottish geologist and paleontologist Dougal Dixon and primarily illustrated by Dixon himself, alongside a few images by other artists. Greenworld features a fictional alien planet of the same name and a diverse biosphere of alien organisms. Greenworld has so far only been published in Japan, where it was released in two volumes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinosauroid</span> Hypothetical species and thought experiment

The dinosauroid is a hypothetical species created by Dale A. Russell in 1982. Russell theorized that if a dinosaur such as Stenonychosaurus had not perished in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, its descendants might have evolved to fill the same ecological niche as humans. While the theory has been met with criticism from other scientists, the dinosauroid has been featured widely in books and documentaries since the theory's inception.

<i>The World of Kong</i> 2005 tie-in art book

The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island is a 2005 art book released as a tie-in to the film King Kong (2005). The book is written in the form of a field guide and natural history of the version of Skull Island and its creatures as presented in the film.

References

  1. ↑ Dixon, Dougal (1988). The New Dinosaurs . Salem House. ISBN   978-0881623017.
  2. 1 2 Naish, Darren (2008). "Come back Lank, (nearly) all is forgiven | ScienceBlogs". scienceblogs.com. Archived from the original on 2019-08-16. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Naish, Darren. "Of After Man, The New Dinosaurs and Greenworld: an interview with Dougal Dixon". Scientific American Blog Network. Archived from the original on 2018-07-28. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Black, Riley (10 August 2011). ""Alternative Evolution" of Dinosaurs Foresaw Contemporary Paleo Finds [Slide Show]". Scientific American. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  5. 1 2 Tudge, Colin (1988). "End points of an alternative evolution". New Scientist. pp. 65–67.
  6. ↑ Debus, Allen A. (2016). Dinosaurs Ever Evolving: The Changing Face of Prehistoric Animals in Popular Culture. McFarland. p. 248. ISBN   978-1-4766-2432-7.
  7. ↑ "The New Dinosaurs". Dougal Dixon. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  8. ↑ Stableford, Brian (2006). Science Fact and Science Fiction: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 130. ISBN   978-1-135-92374-7.
  9. 1 2 "Dixon, Dougal 1947– | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 2019-08-16. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  10. ↑ Recreating the Eighth Wonder: The Making of King Kong (DVD). Universal. 2006.
  11. ↑ "This palaeontologist brought children's dinosaur drawings to life and it's all kinds of cute". The Irish News. 2017-12-21. Retrieved 2022-10-19.


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