John Hendow

I just finished re-reading The Dinosaur Heresies: New Theories Unlocking the Mystery of the Dinosaurs and Their Extinction by Robert Bakker. I’ve been reading his books for years and enjoying them. In The Dinosaur Heresies, Bakker challenges the orthodoxy surrounding dinosaur behavior and physiology; the most commons and incorrect misconception is the notion that dinosaurs were cold-blooded reptiles that sluggishly plodded through prehistoric dust. Through his careful and thorough rebuttal of the traditional palenontological view, Bakker correctly recasts most dinosaurs as warm-blooded, active hunters built for surprising strength and speed.

I especially enjoyed his detailed anatomical drawings comparing skeletal features of dinosaurs with modern analogs, demonstrating that the bone density and dimension makes a strong case for a new view. The book was originally published in 1986 and pulls together many of Bakker’s earlier work into a fairly cohesive case. Some of his earlier work in the field of Vertebrate Paleontology is leveraged here; in the 1970s he published an article in Scientific American called “A Cold Look at the Warm Blooded Dinosaurs”. This is considered one of the crucial moments in re-examining dinosaurs and certainly helped stimulate ongoing discussion about their life behavior.

As a dino geek, this book is fabulous bedtime reading. I delight both in Bakker’s descriptions of the dinosaurs and his writing style. The book is widely available in paperback and makes a good read. I actually dug up my college biology textbook and reviewed a few sections. Bakker could draw me back into the science field with this material, except paleontologists spend far too much time in the sun for my liking. Maybe I could be the first night paleontologist…