Dinosaur
Mummies: Beyond Bare-Bone Fossils
by Kelly
Milner Halls will
thrill anyone who loves mummies and dinosaurs--an unbeatable
combination.
What is particularly nice
about the book is that it is so personally told. Rather than a dry,
third person approach, Halls jumps right in and traces her own
interest in dinosaur mummies. Her enthusiasm for the subject is
contagious!
After the introduction, she
defines the term "fossil" and explains why fossilized bone and
fossilized tissue are so different to researchers. Although the term
"mummy" is hardly accurate in its application to fossilized
tissue (from an archaeologist's point of view), Halls makes a case for
the use of the term: the dinosaurs under discussion in this book are,
she writes, "fossilized mummies--made of stone. Scientists haven't
solved the mystery of the fossilized dinosaur yet. They think that in
some special instances, dinosaur skin turned to leather before the dead
animal was buried or had decomposed."
From there, Halls takes the
reader on a chronological tour of various dinosaur mummy discoveries,
starting with the 1908 discovery of the Sternberg mummies. She moves on
to the fossilized discoveries in 1980 of a baby dinosaur in Italy, in
1990 of a dinosaur "with heart" in South Dakota, in 1994
of a feathered dinosaur in China, and in 1997 of titanosaur embryos in
Argentina.
She leads the reader to the
final major find: Leonardo, "the king of dinosaur mummies."
Discovered in Montana in 2000, Leonardo was "the most complete
mummified dinosaur that has ever been found." Almost three-fourths
of his skin had been preserved. Halls not only describes the discovery
in exciting detail but clearly explains why the discovery is so
important.
A final chapter summarizes
other finds that have been made, mostly by focusing on the researchers
who uncovered the discoveries. The final paleontologist is Dr. Karen
Chin whose claim to fame is the study of dinosaur coprolites (or, to put
it bluntly, fossilized dinosaur poop). Kids will probably be stunned to
learn that she studied a 17-inch long coprolite, once deposited by a
T-Rex. Plus a photo is provided so they can see it for themselves.
Kids
will truly enjoy this book. What will also appeal to them--and to
educators--is the supplemental material that Halls provides: web site
links (to museums and articles), annotated book and video lists, digsite
locations--this makes it a research guide and activity book as well.
Considering that many nonfiction kids' books don't provide a
bibliography or an index, the six pages Halls offers are an abundant
offering.
With over 65 photos and
illustrations, most in color, 48 pages. Highly
recommended.
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